The Chosen Tamers: Knights Pilgrimage
by The Two-One-Five
Summary: Transported to another universe Takato and Daisuke are blamed when the Royal Knights attack the members of DATS. Working together the two must prove their innocence while fighting DATS and the Royal Knights. 02/Tamers/Savers crossover. Non-couple centric.
1. Beginnings

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Digimon, Toei animation and Bandai do.

AN: This will be an Adventure 02-Tamers-Savers crossover. For the record, in this story, Takato will not know anything about the Adventure universe for storyline purposes. Note that also this is a revision of the story I originally published here. This one, I believe, is superior to the old one simply because I actually care about it being easy to follow syntax wise–the old chapter will never see the light of day.

* * *

There were several things wrong with this scene, none of which involved a fire-breathing miniature yellow tyrannosaur. Walking alongside the small dinosaur was a human who, while over populous elsewhere, was practically a rarity in this world to the point where his kind were considered legends- beings of immense power whose punches had struck God himself down. The human had medium length disheveled hair that was obvious from afar had not been well kept. His clothes, mirroring his hair, were just as messy; his pants were rumpled and faded while his red outer shirt was no better. Judging from his physique it was quite obvious that he had a hardened body like no other. But his body was not one that was sculpted in a gym, no, it was one created from fighting creatures that the human body was never meant to defeat.

This _man's_ name was Daimon Masaru.

Walking along side a raging river in a forest it was quite obvious that there was something bothering the human. While the dinosaur walking along side him was taking regular strides, or at least regular for a creature with small legs, Masaru was stomping the ground he was walking on. Eventually, the human would disturb the silence of the forest. Without warning, he lost his tact.

"Damn it!" Screamed Masaru as he threw a punch in the air. "Why is it so damn boring here?"

"Aniki?" The dinosaur walking along side Masaru seemed to be feeling a bit of shame by being associated with the human. "Why do you always do this?"

"Damn it, Agumon!" Masaru responded, acting surprised at his partner's response. "I don't know Agumon, it's just that there ain't nothing to do that is the least bit exiting. Ever since I defeated Yggdrasil nothing here has really been as challenging."

"What do you expect, Aniki?" said Agumon. "You defeated God; things were only going to go down from there."

"I know that. But, really... Remember... I mean, remember when we first started this five years ago? When I decided to stay?"

"You mean those digimon with god complexes?"

"Yeah, those."

"What about them?"

"It seemed that every other week somebody thinking they would be able to rule the world rose to the challenge. And by the next week I kicked their ass, giving room for the next Digimon with a Napoleon Complex."

"Aniki, a Napoleon Complex refers to those who act strong to overcompensate for something."

"Whatever! I'm just saying that back then this was fun. Now, I just don't know. I mean, I came here to polish my manliness, but how can I do that if there is no trouble?"

"Don't say that there is not trouble. Just last week you stopped those two tribes from going to war with each other."

"That was almost a month ago, Agumon." Masaru corrected his partner. "Plus, if I want to become a real man I need to be able to do more than stop a dumb school yard squabble."

"You can always go back with the Royal Knights and see if they can give you something to do."

"I'd rather past. After all, they are all so uptight. I tried challenging some of them to a fist fight the last time I was there, but they all told me to get out of the way."

"Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you challenged them the day they were remembering all the digimon that were lost during the massacre."

"They are just to scared to go up against me in a one-on-one fight. The next time that I see one of the Royal Knights I'm going to challenge him to a fist fight, whether he wants to or not."

"Whatever you say, Aniki."

Masaru decided that he needed to cool off. Stopping along side the river he used his hand to grab some water and began drinking it. Agumon soon joined him. However, their conversation would not be allowed to continue as a small tremor caused them to fall over.

"An earthquake?" asked Masaru as he tried to stand up, falling down in the process. "There must be something close by causing it. Stay on your guard, Agumon."

"Right," Agumon responded.

There was a fight going on in the distance. Both were able to hear the sound of whole mountains being destroyed. Both of them knew that whatever was out there causing the disturbance it was big. Somehow, that made Masaru smile. Eventually, what was causing that noise made its way towards the two.

"Dynasmon," Masaru said upon looking up to see what was causing the disturbance.

Up above them flew a large, white, knight looking being. To anybody else the knight would strike fear into his or her soul but Masaru saw that something was wrong. His body was badly damaged and it was obvious to the human that he was losing to whatever he was fighting. And that made the hairs on Masaru's neck raise. Just as he was about to speak out he was dumbstruck about what he saw next. Without warning he saw another Dynasmon fly from the direction where the first one has come from.

"The hell?" Obviously, Masaru had no idea what he was seeing. But soon he was about to be confused by the actions caused by the second.

Swiftly, the first Dynasmon flew towards the second one and attempted to punch him. However, as fast as he was, the other one was faster and proved it by catching the first ones' fist. The second Dynasmon moved his hand behind the head of the first, pushed the first's head down, and allowed his knee to connect. Being groggy, the first Dynasmon soon found himself on the receiving end of a punch that sent him fumbling towards the floor. It was now obvious that the sound coming from earlier had been caused by the first Dynasmon being thrown towards whatever managed to block his path.

"Agumon, I did not just see a Dynasmon being defeated by his double ganger, right?"

"Yeah, I saw it, too." Agumon responded, with himself being just as confounded as his partner. "I have no idea what is going on, either."

As they both watched the fallen Dynasmon fly up again Masaru knew that his fight was lost, and right he was. The second Dynasmon had managed to dodge the charging Dynasmon, but he was not done yet. Before the first could even turn to face his opponent the second one, without prejudice, used his claw to impale the first one in the back, with his hand managing to pierce his chest all the way through. As they both watched in suspense and astonishment, the first Dynasmon they saw began turning into data that eventually caused him to become a digitama. Though they saw that coming they were surprised when the victor Dynasmon absorbed the fallen one. Though it would have been wise to remain silent, Masaru acted on instinct and yelled at the victorious Dynasmon.

"Hey, you!" Masaru shouted. "Why did you go and kill a copy of yourself? Oh, and also, what the hell is going on here?"

Dynasmon was trying to find where the sound had come. Examining the area carefully he saw what had called out him. As his eyes fixed themselves on Masaru he flew towards him to greet his examiners.

"May I ask, what is the name you go by, obnoxious one?"

This, of course, angered Masaru. "Obnoxious one? Now I know that you knights tend to have a habit of acting snooty and tossing aside crap you deem unworthy, but I would at least think that you would remember me for after I took down Yggdrasil."

"You dare talk like that to one of the members of the Royal Knights? No wonder they went down so easily. If they could not demand respect from such a lonely subject like you then it was obvious they had no grasp of how to properly keep order."

"What the hell are you talking about? If it's a fight you want then, I'm all here!" Shouted Marcus as he began to run towards the large knight.

"Aniki, wait up," said Agumon as he began following his partner.

"It shall be your honor to die by my hands."

As he finished his taunt the large Dynasmon threw a punch downward hoping to smash the human in one move. Unfortunately for Dynasmon, he underestimated Masaru. As his gigantic hand slammed the floor Masaru jumped back and avoided the collision, managing to ignore the aftershock that the attack caused. Not wasting a second Masaru ran up the knight's arm. Reaching its shoulder Masaru knew he had caught the knight by surprised and took a giant leap as he reached the edge. As he was up in the air, Dynasmon continued to underestimate the human and was surprised when his punch not only connected to his face but actually managed to hurt him. Feeling the full force of the punch Dynasmon was sent back with Masaru still up in the air.

_How can a human possess that kind of power?_ Thought Dynasmon as he continued to watch the human in amazement.

But Masaru was not done yet. His fist soon began glowing a bright orange that told him it was time to go all out and from his pocket he pulled out a rectangular device. "You want to underestimate me again, you bastard? Now you'll feel the true power of man on a quest to get stronger. You ready, Agumon?"

"Ready when you are, Aniki," responded Agumon, exited that he was finally going to get a chance to fight against a strong opponent.

"All right, then!" Masaru said as his whole body was covered with the orange energy that covered his fist a while ago. "Digisoul charge! Over..."

But, before he even managed to touch his digivice, a powerful wind managed to send him flying to the ground. Still trying to make his partner evolve, Masaru's digivice slipped out of his hands and was sent flying farther than the eye could see.

"What! You've got to be kidding me!" Screamed the surprised Masaru as he watched his digivice fly off. "Damn it, what the hell caused that?"

"Aniki, you never think these things through all the way." Knowing that his partner about to hit the floor Agumon positioned himself where he was about to land. "I got you, Aniki!" Managing to catch the human Agumon found that his partner was heavier than expected. "Aniki, I think you've gained some weight."

Quickly standing up Masaru– not even thanking his partner or checking to see if he himself was okay– saw whom it was that had sent him flying. The creature was a large, red dragon that was slightly bigger than Dynasmon. He had a humanoid body, a large tail, and two pairs of large-sized wings. Silver armor was adorned around his shoulders, abdomen, and in the edge and in the back of his wings, and from his chest all the way down to his groin. He also had two large horns that replaced his ears. Masaru had never seen anything like him before.

_Damn it_, Masaru thought to himself, _I didn't even hear him flying towards me until he sent me flying. And how the hell did I not see him until now? He's too big to hide in plain sight. Don't tell me he just flew from afar? This might be slightly harder than I thought._

"Examon?" Dynasmon appeared to be surprised at the sight of the large dragon. "What do you think that you are doing here?"

"Without a counterpart to fight against in this dimension I got bored and decided to come here," he said in a cocky fashion. Shifting his eyes between the human and Dynasmon he began chuckling softly. "Good thing, too."

"Well then you can leave seeing as I can take care of this guy all by myself."

"Sorry, but Alphamon said you needed to come back as soon as you finished off your counterpart. Seeing as you did," Examon began looking around, "I would advice you to take orders or else."

"But this human has insulted me," Dynasmon pointed at Masaru. "He shows no respect towards us."

"Then I shall handle him while you follow orders."

Knowing that he was in a bind Dynasmon knew that the dragon was right. Judging from the look in his eyes Masaru knew that he was obviously scared of a higher up. Watching the Holy Knight fly away Masaru had something else to worry about. For one, he did not have his digivice– Examon had seen to that. And, even if he somehow managed to defeat the large dragon, which he was certain would be doable upon regaining his digivice, there was still something else he had to worry about; there were nine royal knights, so he was assuming that there would be nine more of these double gangers. Judging by how easily the first Dynasmon was defeated he was fairly certain that the double gangers would be stronger than the originals. But there was also Examon; was he also a Royal Knight? He hated to admit it, but there were more important things than his pride.

"Agumon, I know I usually don't say this, and by all means do you deserve to hit me later on for saying this, but run!" He shouted as he ran along side the river.

Watching his human partner go, Agumon soon followed closely behind. "Aniki, what do we do now?"

"We need to find that digivice before we fight him."

"But where did it go?"

Masaru pointed forward at nothing in particular. "That way!"

"That's some sense of direction you have right there, Aniki."

Watching them run with amusement Examon decided that he would toy with them, before anything else. "What, so you run away from a fight when things seem a little bad? What a bunch of cowards!" He began flying behind them, going slow enough that they were still in front of him. But now he wanted to do something. He decided to charge at them, purposely missing them just to scare the. However, Examon's speed managed to create a force powerful enough that both Agumon and Masaru were sent flying, crashing in a nearby tree.

"Crap!" Masaru screamed. "That hurt!" Both managed to get up from their collision and continued running. "This is why I hate running: you can't see your enemy."

Examon, however, decided to continue toying with them. Watching Examon about to attack them again both Masaru and Agumon looked at each other and the river and knew exactly what to do. As they both watched the dragon swoop down for the second time they jumped in the lake and managed to dodge the force brought on by the wind. Feeling they had just dodged a train, both Agumon and Masaru stuck their head above the water and looked at Examon.

"You're going to have to do better then that, you bastard," said Masaru as he stuck out his tongue at the giant dragon.

"Yeah! You're too slow to ever defeat me and Aniki," continued Agumon as he to stuck his tongue out at Examon, also.

"Look behind you," said Examon as he pointed at what was behind them.

Turning around both Masaru and Agumon saw what Examon was referring to. The river's current was going its direction because that was where the river would lead to a waterfall.

"Oh, crap!"

"Aniki, what do we do now?" Agumon was scared because he did not know how high they were about to fall.

"Swim!" Screamed Masaru as he began stroking his arms.

_These two guys are clowns_ thought Examon as he continued to watch both of them try and out swim the current.

The water's current was easily much stronger than Masaru but even if it were twenty times its strength he would continue. Continuing to stroke his arms Masaru was eventually able to start moving forward, managing to beat the current. But then he remembered about his partner. It was obvious to Masaru that there was no way Agumon would be able to out swim the current since his arms were too small; he was almost at the edge. He soon stopped stroking his arms and joined his partner falling down the waterfall.

"Huh, I can't believe that he gave up just as he was making progress." Examon saw that the waterfall was deep and was certain they would not survive. "Hopefully the fun isn't over."

* * *

The last time they had been defeated their opponents had to tap into a dangerous power. However, their current opponents had defeated them without seemingly breaking a sweat. But when your current opponent was a mirror image of yourself the situation was quite different. In the Digital World it was common for two digimon of the same species to fight for superiority. But when you were on top of the superiority, and when there was no one sharing your appearance, this situation was unheard off.

Near the summit of a mountain there were only four of them left, all facing their opponents with their backs to each other so as to have a view from all sides, which did not offer much when the opponent was stronger and with higher numbers. The first one, known as Magnamon, was a blue digimon with golden armor covering his chest, shoulders, arms, head, and legs. To his right was Dukemon, a tall and slender white knight with red details. And to his right was another tall white knight, though instead of hands he appeared to have animal heads in place of fingers– an orange dragon on his left and a blue wolf on his right. Unlike the others' the Digimon that was to the left of Magnamon did not appear to have a human-like figure. Instead, he had the appearance of a red centaur-like horse; only instead of the typical four legs he had six. They were Omegamon, the leader, and Sleipmon, respectively.

There were only five in front of them right now, but all but one had managed to easily defeat their counterpart; the last to share a copy had yet to attack. Surrounding them were their counterparts: a pink feminine-knight looking digimon known as LordKnightmon, Craniummon, a large brute regalia-shade armored knight, a blue humanoid dragon called UlforceV-dramon, another Sleipmon, and a humanoid-winged leopard called Duftmon. However, powerful they may have been, upon the revelation of their leader the four remaining knights knew that winning was not a possibility.

From out the shadows revealed himself the leader behind the imposters. An imposing blue-cape black knight with gold detailing walked past the five knights, each of whom respectfully bowed before him. As he approached the four Omegamon could not believe his eyes– he did not know whether to sound admiringly or frightful. However, frightful would be what Alphamon would demand, as evident by his next order.

"Sleipmon, you know what to do." He commanded.

"Right, sir!" With the order being given the imposter Sleipmon flew towards the other one, attacking him in a fashion so as to cause him to flee from his allies, dwindling their numbers even further.

With a five-on-three advantage Alphamon gave the order to finish the other two off. "Leave him to me," Alphamon said as he pointed at Omegamon. "You all know what to do."

"Yes, sir" the other four knights responded as they moved into action.

To call them a well-oiled machine would have been a compliment to oiled machines throughout all worlds. Dukemon and Magnamon attempted to fight them off but before they could even manage to get an attack against their foes they were restrained; they had both been surrounded and knew that their fight was over.

UlforceV-dramon looked at both captured knights- first at Magnamon and then at Dukemon- with a bit of hesitation in his eyes. "Know that what we do to you is not personal and comes with great regret to us." He unsheathed his Ulforce Saber from his right arm and stabbed Magnamon through the chest, deleting the digimon. "I truly am sorry."

"You will not get away with this." Dukemon knew that he was next and that his threat was an empty one.

"You two will eventually rebirth yourselves as customary with your world." UlforceV-dramon prepared himself to kill Dukemon. "By the time you reach these forms again we will be long gone."

His saber easily penetrated Dukemon's armor, causing said digimon's data to start deleting. Soon, where both slain knights once stood were now two digitamas, implying that both would eventually be reborn. As for Omegamon he was now alone with Alphamon, and was waiting for what would happen next.

"Seeing as I am, once again, without a counterpart I guess that I will be forced to fight you again. I am a digimon of honor; I always give my challengers one last request before they die. So take your time thinking about this question; what do you wish to know?"

"You are not from this universe; why are you here in this world?" asked the slightly scared Omegamon.

Alphamon was curious. "Very few digimon know about 'other world.' This is knowledge solely reserved for the rulers; Yggdrasil must have had great faith in you to have entrusted you with such knowledge."

"Indeed he did." Omegamon knew that he was just delaying the inevitable. "You have yet to answer my question: why are you here?"

"Simple; I have been traveling dimensions looking for a digimon that will give me the power to defeat all foes. After a long journey, I– no, we are certain that he is here."

"And your ability to jump from dimensions? Only a very select few have that power."

"If you must know, I had a rare encounter with a Parallelmon one day. Rather than just defeating him we managed to trap its digicore. We now have its ability to travel through dimensions."

"You know, you sure seem to be confident telling me all that information that, if I defeat you, I can use it to my advantage."

"And you actually think that you can defeat me in a one on one fight. Overconfidence will always be our kinds' downfall."

* * *

He did not know how long he had been fleeing for only knowing that his chaser was easily keeping up with him. This situation had been funny to the six-legged knight, really. He had only recently rekindled his relationship with the others– they were not too keen on working with someone who had betrayed them, even if he turned to be right– so watching them all fall struck him. However, sulking around was most definitely not his style, and even so there were more important matters at hand.

_He's attacking when my back is turned?_ Sleipmon readied himself.

He felt an arrow coming so he dodged left. But the arrow was just a distraction; the opposing Sleipmon used his whole body as a weapon– he had used his superior speed to hit him from behind, knocking him down. Though he had been moving forward the imposter's velocity had been great enough to actually cause the once partnered digimon to fall towards the ground. Try as he might he hit the ground hard, hurting him in the process.

But the imposter was not going to stop and let him gain some strength. Instead, he was charging at the downed knight hoping to finish him off quickly. He had to react fast; since he could not keep running after the fall– not that it mattered, anyway, as his opponent proved himself to be much faster than himself– he decided that fighting back was the only option.

He fired an arrow, though the imposter easily dodged it with very little effort. But he expected that– after all, he had caught up to him– and he had readied a counter for the situation.

Placing his shield in front of him, he quickly called out his attack.

"Odin's Breath," he called out as a large beam of ice was summoned from his shield.

Though it caught him of guard the invading Sleipmon managed to fly upward barely dodging the attack. But, being who he was, the partnered Sleipmon managed to see that maneuver coming as well and flew up, catching the invading Sleipmon by surprised again. As he made contact with the invader, Sleipmon positioned himself with his crossbow directly in the chest of his opponent. Firing off the arrow at point blank Sleipmon was certain that his attack had taken out the invader. With the arrow deep in the chest of the invader, the imposter Sleipmon fell to the ground hard, making a large thump as he hit it.

Landing on the floor, the partnered Sleipmon began resting from the short battle. Catching his breath Sleipmon was shocked when he felt an arrow pierce his back. With his legs wobbling on him, forcing him to crouch, Sleipmon looked back and saw that his opponent was walking towards him, with only a slight mark on him.

"You are a Royal Knight," stuttered the partnered Sleipmon. "How dare you attack an opponent when his back is turned?"

He did not respond.

If there was going to be no talking between the two that he knew what he had to do. Sleipmon readied his attack. "Odin's–"

He did not let him finish. Moving quicker than his opponent the imposter landed several punches before Sleipmon even finished calling out his attack. He had taken too much damage; the basic punches from his opponent had caused him to collapse.

The imposter looked at his defeated foe with contempt and disappointment. However, he began talking with a calm demeanor. "This is the limit to your abilities, is it not?" He kicked him hard in the stomach. "I've always heard how you partnered digimon were suppose to be stronger than the rest." He kicked him again. "Every time I faced one of them they fell before either me or one of my comrades. I was hoping that a partnered Royal Knight would prove to be a challenge– how I was mistaken. For a holy knight such as us to side with a human is blasphemy. You will die here."

As the invader flew upward, he put his shield in front of him and began charging up his ice attack. "Odin's Breath," he said as a beam of ice flew at the downed knight. As it hit the fallen Sleipmon, the ice attack began covering the body of the partnered Sleipmon, freezing him in the process. Though he was trying to fight it the former partner of Rentarou Satsuma found that the ice was preventing him from moving. Pushing his body past his limits, Sleipmon found that he was now entrapped within an ice glacier. With a victory under his belt the invading Sleipmon walked closer to his defeated foe and began to mock him.

"You depended too much on the strength of humans and, because of that, you failed to defeat me. Humans do not make a digimon strong and, when a Royal Knight decides to partner up with them, then their honor will never be restored. You are weak, almost as weak as your human counterpart. I only wish you could remain frozen in that tomb for all time, but business comes first."

He would take none of that any longer. He was insulting his partner– insulting his friend of several years– and he could take it no more. The imposter was beginning to raise his crossbow to finish him off. But his attempts were futile. He knew that if it were not for the ice keeping him standing he would be on the floor sprawled on the floor. He was not going to let his opponent win. He would see that this imposter would die today.

_I can't let him walk away after he said that about you, Rentarou. But I cannot free myself with my own strength. I do not know if you can hear me or not, but I need your help. Please, lend me your strength!_

Though it seemed impossible– not to mention, crazy– to ask for help from someone in another world, Sleipmon's body began emitting a small aura. Eventually, the aura became so strong that it turned the color of the ice from light blue to a red-orange. This change of color managed to catch the attention of the invading Sleipmon to the point were he began putting his shield in front of himself for protection. With more power being emitted from Sleipmon's body the energy that was released from his body managed to crack the ice, freeing Sleipmon.

The red-like aura surrounding Sleipmon not only rejuvenated his injuries– or at least allowed him to ignore them– but also destroyed his opponents' state of calm. "You come to this world and kill my allies! You insulted Rentarou! Rest assure that this will be your grave!" He charged forward.

Though the imposter had had been faster when they first started he had soon found himself being outmatched now that Sleipmon was borrowing energy from his partner. He landed a punch on his foe's face that sent him flying back. With the tide of the fight completely turn the partnered Sleipmon charged at the still down imposter.

"You attack an opponent when he's down!" Sleipmon grabbed his foe, picked him up, and tossed him into the air. He aimed his crossbow at his airborne assailant "You are a coward! Bifrost!"

Launching an energy arrow the invading Sleipmon realized that he would not be ignoring this one like the last. It easily penetrated the Chrome Digizoid armor going all the way through; it continued its momentum long after it exited the body. Watching him hit the floor he waited for him to stand up– he did not want to be a hypocrite, after all. As he stood up he knew that the fight would determined by the next move.

"And don't you ever dare to insult Rentarou Satsuma in my presence! Odin's Breath!"

As the partnered Sleipmon fired a giant beam of ice the invading Sleipmon managed to fire the same ice attack as a counter measure. When they both collided it appeared that the attacks were equal in power. But, because of some unknown power, the partnered Sleipmon knew that he had more energy then what he was emitting at the moment.

""You say that humans make us weak, yet you are losing to the power of one! As you freeze to death I want you to know that it was because a human lent me his power. Now, full power!"

Unleashing all of his and Satsuma's might the blizzard that Sleipmon released was several times bigger then what it was before. In the area where they both met the invaders' ice attack was easily overshadowed by the other's combined power. When the blizzard cleared it revealed a large ice ball where the other Sleipmon once stood. Aiming his bow forward Sleipmon fired a few of his arrows that eventually destroyed his opponent. With that, the ball of ice was destroyed, taking the invading Sleipmon with it.

As the red aura began to die down the remaining Sleipmon began feeling the strain that was caused by his body feeling tired– he had clearly over pushed himself by using that power, as his body had never been like this before– and caused him to collapse. Realizing that it would be a while before he was back in fighting shape Sleipmon began thinking about his next actions. Or he would have, but his battle scars caused the knight to finally faint after a hard fought battle.

* * *

He only knew the legend; whatever was standing before him was just that and more. Staring down at his opponent Omegamon was well aware of the situation that he was in. Alphamon knew, too, of course–he knew Omegamon would not be able to defeat him so he gave him that information to impose false hope. But Omegamon knew that the power of Alphamon surpassed the power of the majority of digimon, and he himself was no exception. Omegamon knew that, if he was going to defeat him, he was going to rely on something else besides power.

"Alphamon," Omegamon put his right arm forward, "I cannot allow you to exist to solely fulfill your selfish deeds. As long as I stand, you will not be allowed to harm anymore digimon. Grey Sword."

From the mouth of his dragon arm a sword was unsheathed, signaling that he was ready to fight.

"I would expect nothing less from our kind. Holy Sword GrandAlpha." Calling out his weapon, a large sword materialized in the hand of Alphamon. Clutching the sword, both combatants charged at each other, beginning their fight. With the sound of digital steel clashing taking the silent skies, it was apparent that Alphamon had more physical strength.

Omegamon was amazed at the amount of power that was standing before him. "Why do you this? Why is it that you need more power?"

The black knight said nothing.

Realizing that he would be overpowered soon Omegamon jumped back, causing Alphamon to lose his balance and caused his holy sword to crash into the ground. Knowing that his opponent dropped his guard Omegamon raised his left arm at his opponent and began charging up his attack.

"Garuru Cannon!" He said as a large ball of energy shot out from his left hand, going directly at his opponent.

He could have dodged the attack, really, but doing so would prove nothing. Instead, he swung his sword at the energy bullet and sent it flying like a baseball. Easily tossing aside the attack that Omegamon put his might into Alphamon knew his pride was hit. Putting his hand in front of himself Alphamon fired several small green beams of energy from his hand in the direction of his opponent. Being aware that the attack was coming Omegamon fired his Garuru Cannon at the energy blast, causing a large explosive. Using the smoke as cover Alphamon flew straight towards at his opponent and swung his sword at him.

Somehow, he saw it coming. The sword managed to cut through the smoke, and he did not mean smoke as in symbolic– it actually cut the smoke. Though it was scary to see that, Omegamon was able to see him charging at him barely giving him enough time to dodge. Jumping back he knew he had escaped death for now. However, his chest had been grazed– he saw that the sword had gotten close but he did not think it actually hit him. Having taken the first wound in battle Omegamon knew that he would have to make a big move if he had a chance at defeating his opponent. Rather than continuing to fight in the ground Omegamon took of for the skies with a new strategy in mind.

Not knowing what his opponent was up to Alphamon decided to follow him, knowing that his power would make up for any mistake he made strategically. With the battle taking to the skies Alphamon decided that he would try to hit his opponent from a distance. Putting his hand forward he once again began firing several green beans of energy that were aimed at Omegamon. Noticing the attack Omegamon managed to dodge most of them. For the one that did hit he able to ignore the pain they caused; he had not felt that kind of rush in a long time.

Finally, reaching the point where he wanted to do battle, Omegamon slowed down long enough to fire his Garuru Cannon at his opponent. As the large energy ball barely missed the approaching Alphamon, Omegamon saw an opportunity and flew in for a close ranged attack. Seeing the strategy behind Omegamon's ascension, Alphamon raised his own sword in front of himself to block the incoming attack. But with the speed that Omegamon had gained charging downward he managed to be on the winning side when both swords collided.

However, Omegamon knew that he could not defeat Alphamon in a head on collision. Instead of aiming for the middle of the blade he aimed for the top, giving him enough leverage that, for the first time since he began fighting, he was winning. Gripping the top of his sword Alphamon was able to even out the force being applied towards his sword, preventing it from collapsing towards him.

Alphamon now had no defenses; both of his hands were busy preventing his own sword from cutting him. Omegamon, however, still had his Garuru Cannon. He was finally close to the ground. Aiming his left arm directly at his opponents face Omegamon took his shot, causing an explosion that hit both of them–obviously, Alphamon took most of the hit as he was sent crashing towards the floor. He knew he had been falling fast because upon hitting the ground Alphamon created a small crater, though it did provide him cover as a dust cloud was sent up.

Omegamon looked at where Alphamon had fallen. _There is no way he would have gone done with just one attack._

As the smoke cleared he found his thesis to be correct: there was nothing there.

_When did he have time to move?_

His thoughts, however, would soon be interrupted as he felt a punch hitting the back of his head. Falling to the floor he saw what he suspected; Alphamon had somehow managed to appear behind him without Omegamon being the wiser. He wondered, however, why he did not just kill him right then and there. His defenses were down, after all, and the fight would have ended. Getting up Omegamon knew that there was no way he could win–Alphamon's ability to dust of his attacks and superior speed had been enough proof–so he decided that he would enjoy his last moments.

"You never did tell what is it that you seek." Omegamon began charging forward.

"If you truly wish to know then I will show you. Ultimate War Blade King dragon Sword," he shouted as his old sword dematerialized from his hand.

Where an impressive sword once rested in the hands of Alphamon, now stood a larger and stronger sword. The sword had a large handle compared to the last one, and the blade was wider in stature. But the sword would not have time to be admired. With Omegamon approaching him Alphamon slashed the sword forward, connecting with the Grey sword. The last time that the sound of steel collided, both combatants were almost on equal terms. Unfortunately for Omegamon this new blade easily defeated his sword, breaking the Grey sword where it struck. Since it cut the sword so easily Alphamon's new weapon kept going until it struck the body of Omegamon.

Clashing with his armor Omegamon felt as the sword completely penetrated his insides. Now that the sword was inside of him he truly felt the power that the sword possessed. In reality, it had been nothing short of frightening feeling _that_ amount of power coming from the sword. If memory served him right Omegamon was certain that Alphamon possessed more power than even Yggdrasil. Heck, he was certain that he possessed much more strength than the one who defeated Yggdrasil, Masaru Daimon and his partner, Agumon. Seeing that the sword dematerialized from Alphamon's hands, Omegamon feel to on his back.

Omegamon finally saw why Alphamon wanted more power. To his surprised, using that attack had caused Alphamon more damage to his body than the entire fight with him.

"That sword..." Omegamon spoke slowly. "You came here searching for a way to fully control it, are you not?"

Barely standing up Alphamon responded. "It is good to see that you are observant. Most foes that I defeat simply presume that I do this for kicks."

"You know that, had you missed, you would have been vulnerable towards an open attack. And your body... you destroyed your body by using this one attack."

"I timed everything perfectly; I only used that attack when there is a 99.99 percent certainty of a hit. You rushed in foolishly thinking that your tactic would work on me, twice."

"Then tell me, how were you able to summon so much power? I do not think that I have ever felt that amount of power coming from one person."

"That information will serve you no good." Alphamon said coldly.

"Fine. Then answer me this; how many universes have you and your ilk traveled to?"

"Why do you wish to know?"  
"I'm just curious, is all."

He was struggling to stand up. Alphamon began to ponder the question. "Truth be told, this is the first time that I have truly thought about this; the honest answer is that I have lost track of the worlds' I've visited. But I will tell you that I have seen everything in my travels: I have seen worlds fighting over small and insignificant matters, I have seen the real world fighting with their digital counterpart. Worlds at peace, worlds at war, worlds in a state of uncertainty–I can tell you that I have seen it all."

"A world at peace? I've been dealing with a bunch of warring tribes lately that dying in a world at peace would be suited."

He had nothing left to prove. After all, he had granted him knowledge as per his request and had given him a proper final battle. Really, he could have let him die right where the rest of his comrades fell. But it felt wrong this time. After all, even if it was for just a few seconds, he had been at a disadvantage. According to Alphamon that deserved some kind of reward. But Omegamon had other plans.

Tapping into his reserves Alphamon managed to stand up. Placing his arm in front of himself a white and purple glowing orb appeared in his hand. "Your last wish shall be granted."

As the area around the ball began warping the defeated Omegamon raised his shattered sword and used the broken edges to stab the white ball. When it connected, a large amount of energy began being released from the ball. Soon, a small electrical storm surrounded both Alphamon and Omegamon. They were both disappearing and reappearing every other second–they were both currently stuck in between several worlds.

_Dukemon, Magnamon, bring the help that this world needs. This here is our fight! _Saying his final prayer, Omegamon placed all of his energy in his sword and transported it to the orb. When the ball finally did receive all of Omegamon's energy the ball sent out a large wave that sent the battle-damaged Alphamon flying. As the force from the wave subsided, Alphamon saw that Omegamon was no more–not even his digitama was left. Finding it quite difficult to stand up, Alphamon was more shocked when the four remaining knights came and informed him of the bad news.

"Sir Alphamon," said the voice of Craniummon. "Magnamon and Dukemon's digitama's, sir, they disappeared during that large wave."

_So his last request was just a way to keep this fight going for now. No matter, they will not stand a chance. Still..._

Standing up, with the little energy that he had left, Alphamon knew that he would not have time to enjoy the scenery. "As soon as the other arrive here inform them that they are to carry out the plan."

* * *

For the record, the old chapter, according to Microsoft Word, was 5,400 words–AN included. This one is about 7,300 without the AN. Do review and critique.


	2. Miracles

AN: Sorry I had not time to respond to reviewers. With winter quarter starting I had to spend my time getting ready.

* * *

At fifteen years old Daisuke Motomiya had matured only in the eyes of his friends. To everyone else he was a loud teenager with a streak of getting lucky. Coming out of his schools locker room, Daisuke sat on a bench as he faced the football field. Wearing black shorts, a blue t-shirt, and his priced goggles, Daisuke looked almost the same as he did four years ago. Feeling his legs crashing on him Daisuke saw as his back bag began to move. Unzipping it his partner, Chibimon, popped out, headfirst, and jumped onto his partners arms.

"Hey there, Daisuke!" Chibimon greeted eagerly. "Why do you look so down?"

"I'm not down," he responded, dully. "It's just that after that practice, all I want to do is go home and lie down, and possibly take a bath."

"Then why don't you go already? I've got stuff to do to you know."

"Didn't you hear me? I said I'm tired!"

Lying down on the bench both Daisuke and Chibimon looked up at the night sky, trying to relax. The starts had a calming effect on Daisuke for a reason that he did not understand. The only thing that he knew was that, when ever he looked at them aimlessly, he would think about nothing in particular, but would sometimes think about his past adventures. He remembered the first time that he did this; it was right after the battle with BelialVamdemon on New Years Eve when he first looked up at them without thinking about much.

"Daisuke," wined his partner. "Are you done yet?"

"Have you always complained this much, or are you just doing what you've always been doing?"

"Maybe it's a little of both."

"Do you ever have an answer for anything?"

Chibimon had a blank stare.

"Guess not."

Getting up Daisuke was gathering his belongings. As his partner was watching him Daisuke turned around rapidly.

"What is it Daisuke?' questioned Chibimon.

"Nothing." Daisuke responded slowly. "I guess it was just the wind."

Walking closer to his partner, Chibimon decided that it was time to question his partner, "You know, Daisuke, you've been acting really...different lately."

"What do you mean, different?" questioned Daisuke.

"You've been acting all depressed lately. What happened to that boy who was always trying to find the next adventure?"

"He sort of died when he realized that there was no more adventures."

"But, Daisuke, what about that saying that life's an adventure."

"That maybe so, but that does not mean that it is any where near as exiting as the digital world." As both partner and digimon continued talking, Daisuke continued to once again hear something that caught his attention. "Chibimon, did you hear that?"

"Hear what Daisuke?"

"That voice!"

"Daisuke, I think that you need to rest."

"I guess you're right."

Sitting down on the bench once again the maroon haired boy decided to gather his thoughts. Sitting down on the bench once again he was certain that he had cleared his head. Gathering his belonging once again Daisuke was certain that he was ready to go until he heard the voice once again.

"You who once opened the digimental of miracles, you and your partner are needed in our world."

"Chibimon," said a troubled Daisuke, "please tell me you heard that?"

"I think that I did," responded Chibimon as he climbed his partner's shoulder.

Looking around their surrounding area both were trying to find just where the voice came from. As they both looked around a strange light that glowed inside Daisuke's bag back grabbed their attention. Walking closer to it, they looked inside it only to realize that the light was being emitted from Daisuke's D-3.

"Why do you think that it is glowing like that?" Asked the curious Chibimon.

"I don't know," said Daisuke as he reached for his D-3.

Grabbing it, Daisuke felt something that he had never felt before. He could not really explain it, but even though it felt unlike anything that he had ever felt before, it also had a familiar feeling that reminded him of something. Continuing to exam his D-3 closer, he was shocked when it released an excessive amount of light. Trying to let go of it he felt that the digivice was glued to his hand. When the light did seize he noticed that he was holding onto something completely different from his D-3. Rather than it being a device with curves, it was instead rectangular with the screen on top. Though it was mostly blue, it had a solid gold top.

"Daisuke, what is that?"

"I'm not exactly sure, Chibimon." Answered Daisuke as he touched his device with his right hand.

With his hands on the device the chosen of courage and friendship continued to feel something familiar. He knew that he had felt it before, but he just was not sure when or where. Looking at the device he knew that it was similar to his D-3, but also knew that it was different.

_Wait a minute_ thought Daisuke _Didn't Hikari's and Takeru's original digivices turn into D-3's when they opened their digimentals. So could this mean that there is a new enemy attacking the digital world? I wonder if the other's digivices transformed?_

Thinking about the possibilities Daisuke was surprised when his newly transformed digivice shot out a golden light that went right past his shoulders. Feeling his shoulder get lighter, Daisuke turned around to realize that Chibimon had fallen to the ground. Dropping his newly transformed digivice Daisuke kneeled down to check on Chibimon. Seeing his partner on the floor he realized that his whole body had turned from blue to gold. Worst of all, Daisuke saw that Chibimon was in pain.

"Dais...ke"

"What is it, Chibimon?" Asked the troubled boy.

"My body... It burns!"

Watching his partner in pain Daisuke, not being certain on the correct actions, grabbed his partner and placed him in a tight hug, close to his chest. "Don't worry, Chibimon, I'm sure that it will be alright."

"But it hurts!" Hearing his partner cry out in pain Daisuke felt completely useless. There was nothing he could do to help him out. If he tried telling him again that everything would turn out okay he would not be sure if he was lying or not. But it pained him to watch him like that. Deciding that Koushiro would probably be best in the situation the maroon haired boy reached for his D-terminal. Typing out his message Daisuke knew that this was not his day when his D-terminal turned off on him.

"What?!" screamed an agitated Daisuke. "Stupid thing, why must you stop working now of all times?"

Looking around he saw that the digivice that he dropped was sending out a large amount of electricity. Not certain whether to walk away or to check it out, Daisuke just stayed there, not knowing what to do. Looking at the electric field that had been created by the digivice, Daisuke saw that it was increasing in size. Continuing to look around at the electric field he felt a sort of warm and friendly energy coming from it. At that point, the bearer of the digimentals of friendship and courage knew that the voice from earlier had come from inside there.

_Damn! What do I do now? If I leave, then this thing might continue to expand but if I stay here, something might happen to Chibimon. But that voice, I'm certain that it came from inside there. They said something about needing my help, but do I just walk in there, or what?_

The situation was not the best one in his current situation. His partner was injured, his D-3 had transformed, and the electric field in front of himself was continuing to expand. This was a hard decision to make because all of his choices involved doing something that had an unknown consequence. Still trying to decide what to do a large axe-wielding creature emerged from inside the electrical field.

"No! This is no time for a random digimon attack!" Shouted Daisuke.

"Dais...ke." Chibimon said still in pain. "That's Boltmon. He's an Ultimate level digimon."

"And to think that I thought this day couldn't get worst after practice."

Seeing Daisuke and Chibimon in front of him the invading Boltmon charged right at them. Swinging the large axe down at the two Daisuke was able to dodge the attack. Noticing that Boltmon was angry Daisuke ran away, with Chibimon still in his arms. Being offended that they did not die Boltmon lifted his axe and began chasing them again. _I can't let Boltmon go into the middle of Odaiba without a digimon that can fight against him. And if I continue to run, then he might destroy the whole school._

Considering his options Daisuke knew that he would have to go inside the electrical field, and make sure he took the Boltmon with him. Taking another heavy swing at them Daisuke managed to get move both of them out of the way. Changing his direction Daisuke ran towards the electrical field and made sure that Boltmon was following him. Reaching it earlier than Boltmon the maroon haired boy waited for the large digimon to get close. Seeing the Boltmon running towards him Daisuke was still not certain about the actions that he needed to take, but knew that he had to act. Seconds before Boltmon swung his axe Daisuke jumped back into the electrical field, and was soon followed by the large digimon.

The place where he was now in was in the shape of a tunnel. Daisuke felt that he was inside a hurricane; with the way the walls were spinning. Examining the area around him Daisuke felt relieved when he did not see the rampaging Boltmon. But as he looked down at his arms he saw that his partner was not there. Looking around, he was not certain if his partner had come with him. "Chibimon!"

No sound came. Floating through the tunnel Daisuke could not help but feel like he was being watched. Floating through the mysterious tunnel Daisuke was certain that someone was watching him. His suspicions were confirmed when right in front of him appeared one of V-mon's armor evolutions; the golden warrior, Magnamon. Daisuke immediately recognized the golden armor the digimon wore. Though he only got one good glimpse at him when he first caused his evolution Daisuke knew that he would never forget the golden warrior who helped save the day during one of its darker times.

Looking into the eyes of Magnamon Daisuke knew that this was not his partner. No, this one seemed to have the eyes of someone that was the complete opposite of the V-mon that was his partner. While the V-mon he knew was energetic, happy, and friendly, this Magnamon appeared to be serious and battle ready. Though he had that stern look in his eyes Daisuke knew that he was able to trust the armored digimon.

With Magnamon grabbing Daisuke's hands he placed an object that Daisuke recognized as the newly transformed digivice.

"This will allow you to harness the power of your digisoul." said Magnamon, letting go of Daisuke's hand.

"Digisoul?" Asked Daisuke.

But as he was trying to get answers on what exactly a digisoul was, he was distracted when his body began emitting a golden aura. _This feeling..._ He thought. Looking at his body as much as possible Daisuke felt like he could take on the world. The aura that was surrounding his body seemed to have fully restored him to the way he used to be. It was assuring to Daisuke that a whole new adventure was about to begin. With the golden aura surrounding his body Daisuke moved forward, knowing that whatever awaited him on the other side would be what he was looking for.

"Digisoul charge! Overdrive!" Said Magnamon.

Focusing his attention back up, Daisuke saw that Magnamon was not there anymore. _Wait! Where did he go?_

He had disappeared. The only thing that Daisuke knew about where he was going was that it involved something called digisoul. However, he would not get the chance to think about his current predicament. Contemplating the situation he felt a large thump on his back that nearly caused him to pass out. Opening his eyes he was immediately greeted by V-mon.

"Hey there, Daisuke!" He greeted the maroon haired boy.

"V-mon!" He immediately responded. "Is that really you?"

"Why wouldn't it be me, Daisuke?"

Getting up Daisuke began trying to make sense of what just happened. "It's just that I met your alter ego in that tunnel."

"What tunnel?"

"You know," responded a confused Daisuke, "the one we came through in order to get here." An even more confused V-mon was left silent. "I guess that it was just a dream then." Daisuke responded. Looking down at his hand, he saw the digivice that had replaced his former one. Remembering just what had happened at the school, Daisuke thought about the golden light that had hit Chibimon. "Hey, V-mon, are you feeling better now?"

"Better about what?" He questioned.

"You know, a golden light shot out from my digivice and then you were in the floor, crying in pain."

"I was not crying in pain!" Responded the energetic V-mon. "I would like to see you not be the way I was, feeling like your insides are on fire." This time, it was Daisuke that remained silent. "And as for the pain, it just faded away as soon as we arrived here."

With his back beginning to ache, Daisuke know wondered just how his digimon had evolved. "Another question; how did you evolve to V-mon?"

"I was like this when I woke up."

"This place is weird."

Finally standing up Daisuke began noticing just where they landed. It was in the middle of a forest with trees larger than the ones he was accustomed to seeing. Though it was nighttime in his world, he was now under the blue sky. Inspecting the leafs closer, he saw they were not round like he expected, but instead appeared to be made up of squares. The bark of the trees also appeared to be softer than the ones were he came from. Looking at a nearby river, he also made out that the water was also made up of squares.

"This feels like I'm inside a video game or something," said Daisuke as he continued to inspect the world he was in. Though the imagery was one of the things that Daisuke noticed, what caught his attention more than anything was that there was no smell. It did not really bother Daisuke, but it did make it uneasy for him to be there. This one little detail was enough to tell him that, while he was in the digital world, he was in a different one. Continuing to walk through the large forest Daisuke once again noticed something that he had missed the first time. "Hey, where's Boltmon?"

"Oh. That green guy." Answered V-mon. "I haven't seen him since we first got here."

"Well I guess that's something to be grateful for." With both chosen and digimon walking through the forest they saw many digimon that they had never seen before, plus many others that they were all too familiar with. Somehow, Daisuke was not worried that he was in an unknown place with no way of getting back to his home. Deep in his heart, he knew that he was needed in this place and, whatever challenge it threw at him, Daisuke knew that he and V-mon would come out on top.

"Daisuke," said V-mon, "do you hear that?"

Paying closer attention Daisuke heard the sound that V-mon was talking about, and knew just where it was coming from. Coming out from behind the trees was the same digimon that chased them there, Boltmon. Looking at Boltmon's face both human and partner were certain that he was now more aggressive than he was before. As Boltmon began running towards the two Daisuke knew that, though the odds were not in their favor, they would have to stay there and fight.

"V-mon, let's take this guy down!"

"Right!"

With his partner agreeing Daisuke pointed his newly transformed digivice at V-mon, only to see nothing happen. With Boltmon finally reaching them they were both able to dodge the giant axe.

"V-mon!" Daisuke said as they started running. "Why can't you evolve?"

"I'm not really sure, Daisuke." V-mon responded. "But I think that it has something to do with the digivice."

Still running from the rampaging Boltmon Daisuke began looking at the digivice. Examining the structure of it Daisuke wondered why he would receive something that had no use. Due to the quick thinking situation that he was in Daisuke had no time to figure out why his digivice was not allowing V-mon to evolve. Passing all the trees Daisuke saw a huge rock that gave him an idea that would make things slightly easier for them.

"V-mon, let him catch up a bit." Daisuke said sounding sure he knew what he was doing.

Looking at his partner the little blue dragon was not so sure that Daisuke was right on this. After all, they were being chased by a digimon with a giant axe that would tear them apart if he caught up with them. But he could not evolve to XV-mon and, even if he could, he would not stand a chance against him. Hearing Boltmon scream in anger V-mon thought it would be best to do as his partner asked.

Realizing that he was catching up to the humans Boltmon sped up to the point where he was only a few feet away from them. With the axe right above him V-mon still had his doubts about his partners plan.

"Daisuke," the worried V-mon said, "I hope you have a plan."

"Just be ready to act when I say so."

Getting nearer to a giant mountain-like rock serving as a roadblock V-mon felt his trust for his partner diminishing slightly. Seconds before they hit the rock the blue digimon saw Boltmon's shadow and got worried as he saw him swinging his axe forward.

"To the side!" Daisuke ordered as he dragged V-mon by the arm off to the side.

The resulting action caused Boltmon to hit the rock in front of them, causing the axe to get stuck there. Realizing that he was now weaponless, both Daisuke and V-mon felt a bit more confident about being able to win.

"Alright, V-mon!" Daisuke exclaimed enthusiastically. "Let's try this one more time!"

"Right," V-mon responded.

"Evolve!" Daisuke said, pointing his transformed digivice at his partner. Again, nothing happened.

"Daisuke..." V-mon was now worried.

They were in trouble, and Daisuke knew it. Watching Boltmon trying to pull the axe away allowed the chosen of courage and friendship to try and think of a plan in defeating him. Unfortunately, nothing came to mind. Trying to run would only make the situation worst than it all ready was. And if he stayed there he already knew what would happen to him.

_Talk about Catch-22_ he thought as he was examining the hopeless situation.

Realizing that the axe was stuck, Boltmon left it there and faced off against his prey.

"Daisuke, I think that he looks angrier than before."

V-mon was right, the angered Boltmon now appeared ready to eat, them rather than just kill them. Daisuke knew that if he tried to run, they would eventually tire out and fighting him directly was out of the question.

_...Harness the power of you Digisoul._

Remembering the words of Magnamon Daisuke knew what had to happen. He remembered that he was called to this world to save it, and knew that there would be harder challenges awaiting him. If he failed now there would be no telling what would happen. In his heart, Daisuke knew that he had to win here in order to do what he was chosen to do.

"Okay, V-mon, this guy isn't so tough!" The newly found confidence of his partner baffled the mind of V-mon. "Now," Daisuke continued by putting his hand on his digivice. "Digisoul charge! Overdrive!" Feeling the transformed digivice shake, Daisuke was certain that something was going to happen. After a while, nothing did. "How the hell do I make this thing work?!" Daisuke screamed in frustration.

Boltmon was not amused by this new outcome. All he really cared about was that he was about to destroy two things that had been annoying him all day. Though victory seemed impossible Daisuke still knew that he would somehow pull through at the end. With a large snort coming out seamlessly, all three turned their attention to the top of the rock. Continuing to watch they soon found out that, beneath the rock that Boltmon struck was, a giant sleeping dragon-dinosaur hybrid.

It was al roughly 60 feet tall, with a majority of its body covered in orange scales. Though it size was quite large and intimidating the large blades coming out of its back were what caught their attention.

"Who dares disturb my rest?" Said the prehistoric digimon.

Looking at his digivice Daisuke was able to confirm who this digimon was. "Spinomon, Ultimate level digimon. Virus."

Stepping up, Boltmon immediately challenged Spinomon to a fight. Raising up his arms the digimon was reading to attack.

"So it was you then," Spinomon said looking at his new challenger.

With this new turn of events, Daisuke thought that it might work in their favor. He knew that, if they fought each other, they might have a chance to get out of the situation, alive. Though his plan might have worked, he did not calculated for Spinomon to easily overpower Boltmon. Before the green digimon even reached the dinosaur digimon, Spinomon squashed Boltmon with one swoop of his hands. The resulting action caused a shock wave that knocked Daisuke down.

"Daisuke!" V-mon said reaching his fallen partner. "Are you okay?"

Daisuke did not answer. Spinomon had managed to take out the digimon they were having trouble fighting with a swing of his hand. The odds were completely against their favor. Their only hope of winning was not responding and, even if it did work, Daisuke and V-mon knew that it would not be enough to stop him.

"I see I have a human amongst my presence." Looking down at Daisuke, Spinomon eyed him curiously. "You humans have caused far to much trouble here. Every time that a human presents themselves to this world a series of deadly events occurs here."

"Look," Daisuke responded sounding confident, "we were forced to come to this world. We have no way of getting back home."

"Lies!" Spinomon screamed. "I have lost two great friends ever since you humans first came here!"

"Listen!" Daisuke responded fearlessly. "I don't know who you think we are, but we have just arrived here. I am one of the Chosen Children, it is my duty to protect the digital world!"

"A human protecting the digital world? Ha! That's laughable. We digimon are strong enough to not have any human doing our work."

"Look," interrupted V-mon, "I am Daisuke's partner and I can tell you first hand that Daisuke has saved this world more times than I can count."

"Another Digimon who sides with the humans?" Looking at V-mon, Spinomon felt complete hatred towards the small digimon.

"Wait!" said a surprised Daisuke. "Are you telling me that there are other Chosen in this world?"

"If you mean digimon that fight along side humans, then yes. There are quite a few of them around, but I have yet to actually face one. I hear that they are suppose to be stronger than us regular digimon, but I think it is a lie to try and make a strong warrior more submissive."

"Well then you're wrong!" Shouted a fired up V-mon. "Daisuke has made me who I am. Because of him, I was able to go beyond greatness."

"Ha! You partnered digimon and your claims. Mercurimon lost his life trying to defend you while SaberLeomon lost it trying to kill you. There is no right way to deal with you! All you humans do is bring about destruction."

"Look," responded Daisuke, "I am not like that. I would never harm a digimon that was trying to help humans."

"So you admit that you are willing to kill a digimon if it comes down to it?"

"If that's the case, then yeah."

Daisuke had no idea what he just said. In his world, a death digimon might eventually come back. But in this new world, when a digimon truly died, there was no way to ever bring them back again. Daisuke's choice of words would be a costly mistake on his part.

"Though you have the word of a warrior," said a calm Spinomon, "you have the heart of a savage barbarian!"  
Finishing his sentence, Spinomon swung his giant claw right at them. Noticing the attack both were able to jump out of the way. Standing back up both of them saw that, with each passing second, the situation seemed less winnable.

"I've always wanted to fight against a digimon who sides with humans, and I get rewarded with this weakling? How pathetic!"

"I am not pathetic!" Exclaimed V-mon.

"I was referring to the human."

"Hey!" Said an annoyed V-mon. "You take that back."

"It's true. I once saw a human power up his digimon to an incredible level. This human, however... Let's just say he is low class."

"Daisuke..." V-mon could not believe it. The Daisuke he knew would never take such insults. But now here he was, taking the verbal blows without putting up a fight. Though he did not want to admit it, V-mon finally saw just how much his partner had changed.

"Though I should not blame the human after all, he does have you for a partner. Both of you must be grunts with the fighting sprit you have shown."

Hearing the insults something inside Daisuke caused him to snap, "That's it! I am sick and tired of hearing just how weak we humans are! Do you know how annoying your voice is? And how dare you insult V-mon! He is the best partner anyone could ever ask for because he's a real friend, something which you lack!"

"Listen, you insolent human! Your kind killed several of my friends!"

"There you go again," interrupted Daisuke. "Okay, we get it, my race killed your friends, but those were just a handful of people. We are not all the same! Just because someone looks similar does not mean they are the same! I'm pretty sure that another Spinomon out there is a nice one, and I will not immediately compare him to you."

"How dare you claim to know about digimon?"

"You insulted my friends," said Daisuke clutching his fist. "If I am a grunt, then what the hell does that make them? These goggles given to me symbolize that, under my leadership, nothing will go wrong." Placing his hand on his goggles, Daisuke felt fired up.

Whether it was the symbolist value of the goggles or whether it was something else will never be know. But the second that Daisuke placed his hand on the goggles he treasured a shining, golden aura surrounded his body. The magnificent color that came out of Daisuke's body was nothing short of eye catching. It was almost as if his spirit was what was radiating from his body. Though it shocked both Spinomon and V-mon Daisuke did not even notice it and made it seem as if it was natural.

"Daisuke...is that you?"

V-mon knew who he was looking at. It was not some depressed teenager that had Daisuke's identity. No, he this was Daisuke Motomiya, leader of the chosen. He was the one that brought courage and friendship together and took it to the next level. He was the one who looked fear in the eyes and said he would fight for his friends. He was the one who believed in the impossible. He was Daisuke Motomiya!

"Alright, V-mon, this guy insulted my team. If he insults my friends, then he insults both of us. You ready for this?"

At that moment, V-mon knew that any doubts he ever had were forever dismissed. Immediately he nodded, telling him he had absolute trust in him.

"Right then. Digisoul charge! Overdrive!"

Placing his hand on his digivice a golden light shot out from it and made contact with V-mon.

"V-mon, evolve to..." As V-mon's body became larger and more muscular, golden armor began appearing over him. V-mon, never feeling anything quite like this, knew that it was Daisuke's spirit that allowed him to achieve that power. Nothing came close to what he was feeling at the moment. Sure, this felt similar to being Imperialdramon, but this was something exclusively for him and Daisuke. "...Magnamon, the holy knight of miracles!"

Where the small, petite digimon once stood now stood the golden warrior, Magnamon. Though he looked the same he was several times bigger than the one Daisuke knew. While the other was a bit taller than an adult human this one was about 40 feet tall. Though he was shorter than Spinomon Daisuke knew that victory was assured.

"A chance to fight one of the Royal Knights that is partnered to a human, joy."

Not even waiting for him to finish speaking Magnamon dashed at his opponent and landed an uppercut on his extended chin.

"Daisuke's right." Magnamon responded. "You do talk too much."

Getting up Spinomon charged head first at Magnamon. Due to size difference Magnamon was able to slide under Spinomon, kicking his legs. With Spinomon facedown, on the floor, Magnamon grabbed his tail, lifted him up, and began swinging him. With enough velocity Magnamon threw Spinomon through the air. Due to Spinomon's weight he was not sent as far as Magnamon expected. Landing a short distance from Magnamon Spinomon got up once again and charged at his opponent. This time Spinomon crouched down more allowing him to go head to head against Magnamon. Locking arms, Magnamon knew that it would be foolish in trying to overpower him, so instead he charged up his armor and readied an attack.

"Plasma Shot."

Sending out a several shots of energy from all over his body they all caused Spinomon to let go. But, as luck had it, Spinomon managed to catch a charging Magnamon in his grips. Squashing him with both his hands Magnamon felt his whole body aching. Due to the pressure being applied to him it took Magnamon a while to realize that he had an open shot. As Magnamon fired golden bullets from his shoulders they caused Spinomon to release his opponent. Due to his thick hide Magnamon's attack only caused Spinomon to flinch. Gathering his stance Spinomon aimed the spikes on his back at the sky as they began to glow.

"Sonic Slash Rain!" He said as he fired several blades at the sky.

Eventually, those blades were redirected towards the ground and, as Magnamon noticed, they were aimed at Daisuke. Wasting no time, Magnamon positioned himself right above his partner, with his back facing the barrage of airborne blades. Feeling them all connect with the open part of his back Magnamon knew that this was what had to happen. With the blades subsiding, Spinomon attacked Magnamon, whose back was still turned in the opposite direction.

With Magnamon on the floor Spinomon dashed past Daisuke, jumped in the air, and landed on Magnamon's back. With the large digimon landing on him Magnamon felt the full force of Spinomon. He was definitely heavy; heavier than he looked, anyway. Jumping again Spinomon once again laded on the back of Magnamon, causing him more pain. Jumping up once again, Magnamon saw his opportunity to take action. With Spinomon still in the air Magnamon flew straight up, catching the dinosaur off guard. Connecting with his stomach Magnamon's punch sent out a large wave of energy showing the power it had.

Letting the Dinosaur digimon fall to the ground Magnamon once again began charging up his armor. But, before he even had a chance to launch his attack, Spinomon shot out a blue beam from his mouth, hitting the holy knight, sending him down. Looking up at the sky Magnamon witness as Spinomon once again leaped in the air and landed on top of him. With Spinomon's upper claws landing right on top of his biceps Magnamon screamed in pain.

Stretching his long neck, Spinomon placed his head right above Magnamon's. "You Royal Knights think that you can do whatever you want, don't you? Just because you have the power, and travel in numbers, you feel that you are unstoppable. Well then just look at you; I have nearly defeated the great Magnamon!" Magnamon was confused; he had no idea just who were they Royal Knights that he was talking about. Worst of all, Magnamon felt that he was being blamed for some act that he did not commit. "I should have known that the Royal Knights would betray us after all, they actually went against Yggdrasil himself in order to protect that world. That was when everything fell apart; we had no real ruler, thus every self-deserving digimon wanted to be at the top." Magnamon felt Spinomon's anger, feeling the claws going in deeper into his biceps. "Many digimon began fighting each other hoping to get the title of God. You know why? Because a human killed Yggdrasil!"

At that point Magnamon became weary about hearing the same thing over and over. Acting swiftly he pushed his arms up, freed them from the claws, slid under his opponent, and was once again in back of him. Seeing Magnamon going in back of him Spinomon quickly turned around only to have both his jaws forced open by Magnamon.

Placing his hand inside his mouth, Magnamon began charging up his attack. "Plasma Blast," he said as he released several beams of energy from his hand aimed at Spinomon's stomach. When his attack ceased, Spinomon body broke into pieces of data and eventually turned into a digitama. Knowing that he had won Magnamon reverted back to his child level, V-mon.

Walking closer to his partner, Daisuke examined the remaining digitama. "V-mon, is it natural for digimon to turn back into digitamas so soon?"

Looking at his partner, V-mon responded. "No, it's not. The time it takes for any normal digimon to go back does vary but still, it is rare when it is done this fast."

"So I guess that settles it," Daisuke said. "We are in a different world."

Picking up the digitama, Daisuke began examining the surrounding area.

"Daisuke, what are you doing?" Asked V-mon, looking at his partner in confusion.

"Spinomon has a hard time not hating humans. The least I can do to help him down the right path is to put him in a place where he cannot be reached by others attacking digimon."

Finally finding an empty cave, Daisuke put the digitama in an instant nest that he built in about a minute. Leaving the cave Daisuke knew for a fact that he did not know where he was. He did not even know what exactly he was doing there. But he was not scared after all, he did carry courage in his heart. Yet, walking towards an unknown direction, Daisuke could not help but wonder what awaited him beyond the horizon.

_I was attacked by two digimon in less than an hour here. Do I really need to think what will really happen to me later on?_ Looking at his partner, walking by his side, Daisuke knew what awaited him. _Nah! I don't need to think about that now because whatever awaits us we will have no problem taking it head on._

* * *

Signed: GuitarDude215

Word Count: 6005

Finished: January 14, 2008 1:35am PT

That's it for this chapter. In the meantime I hope you review and, as always, constructive criticism is appreciated.


	3. Hazard

AN: About taking forever to update...my bad. Hopefully the next one will be out before finals start.

* * *

At night one sees things that are not regularly seen during the day. Certain problems can only be seen at night because that is when they are the most obvious to see. From prostitutes to drug dealer; things that are seldom found at day are obvious at night. The one exception is Matsuda Takato, someone who is out of place in this current sight. It has been five years since the incident with the D-Reaper, and Takato has done what one would expect from him; he has grown up. The once ten-year-old boy had grown to be a teenager like all children do in time. Wearing a similar apparel to what he had years ago, the tamer appeared to be on the look out for something.

Not seeing anything that caught his attention Takato turned back. "'Kay, Guilmon, coast is clear."

From behind him Guilmon walked out from the shadows appearing to be sneaking around. "Takato," the digimon said, "is it really necessary for me to be sneaking around at night?"

"We can't risk it, Guilmon." He responded. "Just be lucky that we are walking through a place where you don't stick out as much."

He was right. There were things in plain view that were more eye-catching than some red dinosaur after all they were walking through Kabukichō, Tokyo's red light district, at night. As Guilmon turned around he saw a suspicious shady character trading something with another suspicious shady character. Though he was a powerful digimon he became worried about his partners safety.

"Um, Takato, are you sure that we should be here at night?"

"I kind of wished that we weren't but it was the best route to take coming from Nishi Shinjuku, seeing as the subway was full of people on their business trips. There was no way you were going to go unnoticed by those people."

Guilmon dropped on his bottom and sighted. "But, Takato, we haven't eaten anything since the morning, and it's already late."

"How can I forget with you reminding me every ten minutes?"

"How long 'till we get home?"

"We just got to reach the subway and hope that it is not as full as it was this afternoon." As the out of placed pair continued to walk down the desolated streets they could not help but feel they were being watched. Though no human eyes were on them they could not shake the feeling off. "Feels like we are being watched," said Takato.

At that moment, something received the attention of Guilmon. Sniffing the air the red dinosaur ran after it without thinking. Watching his partner run off Takato soon followed.

"Guilmon, wait."

Running through the streets at night had its advantages. For one, due to the area they were in, a running dinosaur did not catch the attention of anyone; Takato was thankful for that. But continuing with his search he soon found that he had lost all track of his partner.

"Great! He better not have smelt some sort of food."

Though a rouge dinosaur was not enough to catch the attention of a group of hooligans, an innocent looking fifteen year old stood out in plain view. Studying Takato, a small gang of four from across the street noticed that the well-shaven and well-dressed boy was searching for something. Not knowing anything about the tamer they approached him not, expecting any resistance.

"You lost, lil' boy?" Said one of the delinquents.

Watching the four of them walk up closer to himself Takato knew that he was in trouble. Not only did he just recently lose his partner, but he also knew that he would not be able to take one of them in a fistfight, much less four. Hoping that they would be reasoned with Takato tried talking to them. "Listen, guys..."

"Shut up, boy!" One of them said, punching his own hand.

They were all much bigger than him and looked like they had been in a recent brawl while Takato was the kind who would always try to avoid conflict at all cost. Though he had learned that sometimes fighting was the only way to solve a conflict he always tried his best to avoid any form of conflict.

"Looks like someone is past their bed time." Another one of them said.

"Yeah, the baby should be in bed, shouldn't he?" Said another.

"Look, guys." Responded Takato. "I am just trying to catch my train and would appreciate it if you let me go."

Trying to casually walk away he found it impossible due to one of the ruffians putting a hand on his shoulder preventing him from moving.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asked.

"Apparently, nowhere." Takato responded.

Though he wished he could avoid this fight completely, he knew that the only way out of it was to fight. Clenching his hand into a tight fist, Takato threw a punch only to have his wrist be caught by his target. Squeezing his wrist tighter, Takato felt his hand go numb. Attempting to escape the current predicament Takato threw another punch only to once again have it caught by a different person. With Takato not being able to move the gang member kneed the boy in the stomach. As the knee connected Takato felt the air escaping his lungs. Falling to the floor the hooligans laughed as Takato attempted to stand up.

"You better hope you have some money in your wallet. Otherwise we might have to make up for our time by using our imagination." Reaching for Takato's pocket, the gangster was derailed from his goal by an attack coming from Guilmon.

Out of nowhere Guilmon popped out and attacked the one mugging Takato. As their attention shifted from Takato to the digimon, the gang members thought they had a chance to make some money.

"Look, boys! It's one of them digimans! If we capture it we might be able to make some dough!"

Showing not fear the three of them rapidly approached the child digimon hoping to capture it, having forgotten about their fallen friend. Seeing them coming Guilmon opened his mouth and shot out a Fireball. Seeing it coming, the gangsters managed to dodge it but knew they would have to retreat when they say the destruction he had caused. Because the attack did not hit its target it instead hit a nearby car, eradicating it in the process.

"That thing blew up my car..." stuttered one of them.

"I think it would be best if we leave here right now, vowing nothing happened," the second gangster said.

"Agreed!" The rest said.

Picking up their fallen friend the three took off, leaving the tamer and his partner as they were. Walking over to his partner Guilmon began sniffing, him hoping it would accomplish something.

"Takato, you okay?"

"I'm fine, Guilmon." Takato responded holding his stomach. "Just got the wind knocked out of me, but we've been through worst."

"But if you got the wind knocked out of you, how are you still alive?"

Takato stood up "No Guilmon, it's a figure of speech."

"Since when does talking take on an appearance?"

"...Just forget about it, Guilmon." Looking around, Takato saw that they would have to get out of the Kabukichō soon if he wanted to avoid confrontations like that. "The station should only be a few blocks away. The sooner we get out of here the better."

"Kay."

As they continued to walk Takato remembered a question that he wanted to ask but forgot it due to the previous situation. "Hey, Guilmon, why did you run off like that? You know how some people still are."

"Oh, well, I smelled something."

"And what was this something if you don't mind me asking?"

"It was a digimon."

"A digimon you say." Responded Takato taking out his golden D-Ark. Turning on the analyzer he saw that there were no digimon nearby. "Are you sure it was not food you smelled?"

"No! I'm certain that it was a digimon."

"If it was a digimon the D-Arc would have picked it up. Now, for the last time, are you sure that it was not food you smelled?"

"Well, as I was following the smell, it just disappeared. I tried looking for it but that is when I saw you being attacked by those guys."

"Don't remind me. So anyway, what type of digimon was it?"

"I don't know, but it smelled familiar."

"So do you mean that it's a digimon that we've encountered before?"

"I don't know."

"Well the analyzer doesn't say anything, but I'll bet that it was just your imagination that caused you to smell it."

"But Takato, I'm certain that it was a digimon!"

"Whether it was one or not we'll never know but, in the mean time, we have to get to the station before we miss our train."

Without saying another word Guilmon followed Takato towards their destination, hoping that they would not get interrupted along the way. Realizing that they were about to miss their train Takato began speeding forward, signaling Guilmon to take haste. In the short journey to the train station Guilmon did not feel as they were being watched, but still felt quite cautious. Finally reaching the station they were surprised that it was empty. The reason for this was quite simple; they had missed their train.

"Grea! Now we have to wait once again for another train to come," whined Takato.

"Sorry that we missed our train Takato." Said Guilmon, sounding remorseful.

"It's not your fault, Guilmon, we just haven't had the best day." He realized that Guilmon was still feeling a bit down, "Look on the bright side, we only have a few hours till the day ends."

Once again, it did nothing. Knowing that he should see how long he had until the next train arrived, Takato took out his D-Arc to check to time, as he was looking at the time, he saw that it was detecting another digimon nearby.

"Takato..."

"There is a digimon nearby."

Following the signal Takato saw that it was inside the subway tunnel. Studying the schedule, he saw that he had some time before the next one came. He then focused on his surroundings and made sure that no one was around to spot him going in, and possibly get injured if a conflict were to take place.

"Lets go, Guilmon."

Following his partner, the two ran alongside the rails hoping to stop the digimon from causing mischief. Finally reaching the area that the digivice pointed out they saw that no one was there.

"Damn, could this thing be broken."

Looking over at his partner, he saw that he was sniffing the floor they were standing on. "Takato, he's down here."

"Hmm," Takato began observing the area nearby and saw that there was a door labeled 'GROUND FLOOR'. Seeing that it was locked Guilmon took out the door with his Fireball attack. "Well that did the trick."

Entering, they immediately headed for the stairs and made their way downward. Reaching the ground floor they entered a dimly lit room covered in spider webs. Analyzing his D-Arc once again Takato saw the digimon should have been right in front of them.

"Okay, this is weird," Takato said, putting his digivice in his pocket.

Continuing to examine the area they were in he certain that the digivice was malfunctioning, and dismissed the thought of a wild digimon appearing beneath the subway. That is until Takato heard a voice calling out to him.

"You who proudly wields the power of the hazard, you and your partner are needed in our world."

"Guilmon, did you hear that voice?" There was no response. Turning around Takato saw that Guilmon was on the floor, screeching in pain. Takato went closer to his partner. "Guilmon, are you okay?"

"...It hurts."

To further aggravate the situation, he saw that there was light shining through his pocket. Taking out his D-Arc he saw that it was the cause of the light. Knowing that there were more important matters to woe over he tossed it to the side and focused on the well being of his partner.

"Guilmon, is there anything that I can do for you?"

Once again, the dinosaur did not respond. Takato did not know how to act. At that moment of doubt, he was trying to hold back his tears. For all he knew Guilmon was dying, and there was nothing that he could do about it.

A single forced tear rolled down his face, _I can't let Guilmon down, not after what we've been through._

Picking up the digimon he placed one of his arms over his shoulders, allowing for easier movement. _Hopefully Yamaki knows what to do._

But, before he left, he saw that where his D-Arc was once thrown was now replaced with a something that resembled a remote for a television set. Deciding to examine it he saw what appeared to be a longer digivice with a screen on top. It was mostly all red with a white top. Knowing that it might be the cause of Guilmon's condition Takato stretched his hand to pick it up. But before he even reached it an electrical field appeared from the device, absorbing both himself and his digivice.

"What's going on here?" Speaking those last words, Takato found himself in a tunnel with the walls spinning like a cyclone. Not admiring the view, he saw that Guilmon was nowhere to be seen. "Guilmon?"

Looking around, he did not see anyone. _What if something happens to him? Not only did I lose him but, also, I don't know where we are headed off to._

Still trying to make sense of the current predicament he was surprised when in front of him appeared his and Guilmon's Ultimate form, Dukemon. This was a first for him. To Takato this felt like looking at himself through a mirror, only much more real. The presence that Dukemon brought was an ample one that told him that everything was going to be all right. He wondered if that was the feelings he brought whenever he faced of against an enemy.

"Um, hello." He said, not sure of what to say.

Reaching down, Dukemon grabbed the boy's hands and placed an object in them.

"You will venture on a quest that will require a new form of evolution. Use this digivice to activate your digisoul."

With that, the chivalrous knight disappeared and left no sign of where he could have gone.

"Wait, what am I suppose to do and where is Guilmon?"

Before he could get his question answered, Takato felt a warm aura surrounding his body.

_What is this feeling?_ He thought.

Looking down at his body he saw that it was surrounded by a large, white aura. It had a calming effect on him, but he still could not get the thought of Guilmon being lost out of his head.

"Digisoul Charge! Overdrive!"

That voice came from nowhere, but was easily recognizable as Dukemon's. Before he could assemble his thoughts he was interrupted by the fact that he had just hit the ground causing himself to lose consciousness. Opening his eyes, he woke up to the sight of Guilmon looking right at him.

"Hey, Takato, did it hurt?"

"Did what hurt?"

"When you hit the floor. You didn't scream or anything, so I can guess that it didn't hurt."

Rather than giving his partner an answer Takato stood up and began examining the area. Needless to say it was beautiful, especially when compared to the industrial area of Tokyo. Though it was a beautiful sight Takato felt like he had fallen straight into a video game. Not only could he make out the pixilated design the trees had, but it did not feel like he was in the real world.

"This does not look like the digital world does it Guilmon?"

No response came.

"Guilmon?" he said turning around.

In the distance, he saw his partner sniffing the flowers. Approaching him Takato also began to take in the sweet aroma that came from the flowers. He was surprised when there was nothing to smell.

"Takato, these flowers have no smell."

"Guess we can confirm that this is not the real world. Still, do you think that this is the digital world?"

Rather than responding, Guilmon signaled Takato to look up at the sky. Turning his head up, he saw several digimon that he recognized from the card game.

"So I'm guessing that this is the digital world only, not the one we are used to."

"Maybe we traveled to another world."

"Well yeah, that's what it's called when going between the real and the digital world."

"No, Takato, I mean going to a different world with a different real world than the one we're use to."

"What makes you say that?"

"The voice said our world needs you."

"Could be. It would make sense seeing as this place does not resemble where we live."

"Hey, Takato, what's that?"

Takato looked down at his hand to see his newly transformed digivice, "Oh, I had completely forgotten about that. The D-Arc transformed into this... Hey!"  
"What is it, Takato?"

"This thing, it does not have a way for me to perform card slash operations?"

"Well that does us no good, as you always leave your deck at home seeing as wild digimon don't attack as often as they once used to. Not to mention that we can easily evolve to Dukemon to defeat them if it gets too tough."

"Yeah, I guess. Still, kind of weird that I get a new digivice for no apparent reason."

"So what should we do now? I'm still hungry."

"Let's try this fruit," Takato responded reaching for a nearby tree. Grabbing a strange fruit he took a bite and responded with a happy face. "Wow! This stuff is great! Try some, Guilmon."

Reaching for the tree Guilmon grabbed a piece of fruit and tasted it for himself. Much like Takato, he had a facial expression that said he was happy. Grabbing more fruit the two of them enjoyed themselves until something from the distance caught their ears. The clashing of steel could be heard from afar, causing both Takato and Guilmon to shift their attention from the food. Deciding that this might be the reason they were called upon the two of them went up to see what was causing the commotion.

Making their way they realized that they would have to climb a few mountains. The mountains were tall, not to mention difficult to reach the top. Fortunately they had a path that lead directly to the top. Reaching the top they saw a large crater where two digimon were involved in the art of combat.

The first digimon resembled a samurai with the torso of an undead horse. He wielded a zanbato type sword and adore golden armor. Looking at his new digivice, Takato confirmed the identity of the digimon to be Zanbamon, a virus digimon. The digimon that he was fighting looked similar to a WarGreymon, only his armor was dark and was more samurai like than remembered. The digimon analyzer confirmed his identity as Gaioumon, a dragon man virus digimon.

They looked like they had been in a battle for some time now, and it appeared that the fight was about to end. Without warning Gaioumon dashed forward and attacked an off guard Zanbamon, cracking his blade in the process. With nothing to defend himself against the attacking Gaioumon Zanbamon could only watch as Gaioumon's blades easily pierced his armor and made their way towards his insides. Using his brute strength Gaioumon lifted up his opponent using only the blades. Due to Zanbamon's weight, his whole body slid down with the blades still inside him, causing them to cut right through his shoulders. Hitting the floor, Zanbamon was quickly turned into a digitama.

"Guilmon, did you see that?"

Guilmon responded with a growl. Since Gaioumon could have been the reason they were transported to the new world, Takato knew that they would have to confront him if they wanted to go back. Climbing down the two of them made their way down the crater hoping to take out Gaioumon by surprised. Unfortunately for them, due to the rough slope of the crater, Takato slipped, taking Guilmon down with him. Sliding down the side of the crater they managed to get the attention of Gaioumon. Finally reaching the bottom the dragon man digimon was waiting for them at the foot of the crater.

"You two dare to tarnish a warriors arena?" He pointed his sword at them. "If you wish to live then you will fight me in an honorable fashion."

Knowing that Gaioumon would not attack a fallen challenger the two stood up and faced him in a bold fashion. He was an ultimate but, even so they, had an ultimate on their side, namely Dukemon. They did not know how strong he was, but they were certain that Dukemon was more than enough to take him on.

"Let's do this, Guilmon. Matrix Evolution..."

"Guilmon, evolve to..."

Nothing happened.

"Wait, why didn't we combine to form Dukemon?"

"Quit toying with me," Gaioumon said. Taking a sword stance, Gaioumon sent his swords down on them in an X shape.

Managing to dodge it by throwing themselves off to the side they were now on the run.

"Guilmon, why can't we form Dukemon?'

"I don't know."

"Real warriors do not cower when they run."

"Then how do we run without cowering?" Responded Guilmon.

"Guilmon! I don't think it is wise to instigate him."

"What does instigate mean?"

"Quick not taking me seriously!" Once again Gaioumon struck the floor they stood on.

Instinctively Guilmon fired a fireball at him, only to have it do nothing but crisp his armor.

From his pocket Takato pulled out three cards. "If only this thing had a way to perform the card slash function then we might stand a chance."

That is when he noticed it. Around his hand was the same white aura that surrounded him when he met Dukemon. He then remembered the words spoken to him by Dukemon telling him about the new form of evolution. Since he had no choice he would have to try it out.

"Okay, Guilmon, I don't know if we should try this out, but we can't sit idly by as he tries to kill us. You ready?"

He did not know what to be ready for, but he decided that he should trust Takato. "Okay!"

"Digisoul Charge! Overdrive!" The small aura that had surrounded his figures had spread all over his body. Placing his hand on the digivice, a similar white aura appeared around Guilmon.

"Guilmon, evolve to...Dukemon."

In front of Takato stood Dukemon, only he was several times much larger than before with his much larger size now rivaling that of their current foe. Though his partner's size was impressive the fact that he was standing where he was standing was taking him time to get use to. When he had the small confrontation with the other Dukemon, he had a feeling that it was not his partner but this was different because this Dukemon was the same one he created. This Dukemon was his friend.

"Takato." Dukemon said. "Stay back. It will be best if we do not underestimate this guy."

Realizing that it would be best to listen to his partner Takato went to seek shelter and watch the fight from a distance.

Staring down at each other, the two warriors were awaiting for the other to make the first move. As fate would have it Gaioumon steeped an inch, causing Dukemon to charge in with an attack of his own. As his lance connected with the sword, the power released sent out a wave of energy that cracked the ground.

"It appears you Royal Knights are not as strong as they make you out to be." Gaioumon said as both of his swords were holding back the lance.

"Royal Knights?"

"Don't deny. You are Dukemon, one of the members of the Royal Knights."

"I do not know what you're talking about." Dukemon felt himself being pushed back by Gaioumon.

"You Royal Knights is supposed to be the strongest force in the digital world, yet you go out and lose to a bunch of humans."

"Wait, there are humans in this world?"

"Quit playing the mind games."

Going all out Gaioumon began pushing Dukemon back causing him to trip. With Dukemon on his back Gaioumon leaped high into the air hoping to smash Dukemon with his blades. But, before he could even hit the holy knight, Dukemon used his lance as a means to derail the attacking digimon. Seeing the lance Gaioumon used his blades to knock out the lance to the side. Having a clear shot, Dukemon bended his knees up to his chest, managing to stop his opponent. With Gaioumon placed on the knight's feet Dukemon launched him off. Standing up, Dukemon saw that Gaioumon landed safely on his feet.

Dukemon placed his hand on his side. "I summon you, Aegis!" A round shield materialized on his left hand.

Wielding his shield, Dukemon charged in, with Gaioumon mirroring his action.

"Royal Saber."

Dukemon's lance began glowing, letting out a bright light. As they collided, the attack coming from the lance easily made its way through Gaioumon's defenses. The result of this action caused a large explosion that seemingly destroyed the dragon man digimon.

"Dukemon!" Takato shouted, hoping to see if his partner was okay.

When the smoke cleared Dukemon was the only one of the digimon standing. Overwhelmed with joy Takato ran towards his partner, hoping to start celebrating. Though it seemed like the fight was won Dukemon soon found himself with Gaioumon's blades on his back.

"Dukemon!" Takato screamed at the sight of his partner.

He felt helpless. At least when they fought as one he would share his partner's pain, but this time there was nothing that he could do about it. He was, at the moment, doubting whether it was wise for someone to call them to defend this world.

"So is the might of the Royal Knights only at this level?" Asked Gaioumon.

Falling to his hand and knees, Dukemon knew that it would take something to help him defeat his opponent. Feeling Takato's emotions powering him up Dukemon used the newly acquired strength to push Gaioumon back long enough to free himself. Standing up, he saw that Takato was approaching him.

"Takato, stay back!" Dukemon ordered.

"But..."

"Gaioumon is stronger than he appears. Things could get hectic from here."

"Okay Dukemon." Takato said, "If Gaioumon wants a fight, the he's got one."

"Right," he responded.

"So now we begin round two, hey?"

Once again Dukemon rushed the dragon man digimon hoping to take him by surprised. But do the distance between them, Gaioumon was able to see it coming, managing to catch the lance with his blades. Unlike last time where Dukemon was pushed back, this time Gaioumon found himself in the position of being the weaker one. Realizing that he lost this confrontation of strength, Gaioumon jumped up giving him a clear shot at his opponent.

"Got you!" He screamed.

Watching Gaioumon attack from the air Dukemon raised his shield up forming a blockade between himself and Gaioumon. Timing his attack right, Dukemon managed to aim his shield at his opponent's stomach throwing him of to the side. Seeing Gaioumon hit the floor Dukemon began charging up his shield.

Gaioumon stood up. "That is the full power of the Royal Knights? I will defeat you!"

Gaioumon once again charged forward with both his blades leading his attack. Aiming his shield at his opponent Dukemon knew it was almost time to attack.

"Gaioumon, you are barbaric warrior interested in only fighting."

"Such is a way of the warrior."

"A true warrior fights for a cause. Final Elysium!"

Seconds before Gaioumon struck Dukemon an energy beam, shooting out from the Aegis Shield, hit the dragon man digimon. Though it was a direct hit Gaioumon was still fighting the force of the beam to the point where he was pushing it back. As Gaioumon was getting closer Dukemon realized that he would have to put more energy if he was to defeat him. Unfortunately, Gaioumon proved to be stronger than anticipated, allowing the dragon man digimon to get an open shot on him.

"Gaw!" Dukemon screamed as the blades penetrated his armor.

"The..." Gaioumon struck Dukemon's right arm, "...Royal Knights..." He struck his left leg "...are weak." He struck his main body this time.

Trying to get up, Dukemon felt the presence of Gaioumon's kick in his stomach. Finding himself on his hands and knees once again Dukemon felt another sharp stab in aimed at his back.

"Gaioumon is strong..." Again, he stabbed his back. "...Royal Knights are not!"

Feeling multiple strikes piercing his back Dukemon felt his body splitting up into data. Continuing with the attacks Dukemon's bodies seemed to have increased in weight, causing him to fall flat on the floor. With each strike that passed Gaioumon's anger was sent through Dukemon's body; the Holy Knight digimon knew that it was almost over. He knew that it was over when he began to see another Dukemon right in front of him.

'Huh?' He thought.

"Young Guilmon, I chose you because you are the strongest of all your species. This world is in danger from others who are far stronger than Gaioumon. Defeat him to be shown the way!"

With that the mysteriously appearing knight vanished, leaving Dukemon lonesome once again. Suffering another blow to his back, Dukemon managed to roll out of the way before the next attack hit. Still rolling on the floor Dukemon used his legs to trip Gaioumon. As both combatants stood up they both immediately jumped back several times creating distance between them. Continuing their short tradition of combat both of them, once again, charged in hoping to win the clash.

But before they hit, Dukemon ducked down avoiding his blades. Finally finding a way around Gaioumon's defenses, Dukemon performed an uppercut aimed at Gaioumon's chin with his shield leading the way. Launching his opponent in the air Dukemon leaped up as to surpass him in terms of elevation. Positioning himself next to his opponent, Dukemon once again prepared his attack.

"Sky Gram Slash!"

Within the blink of an eye, Dukemon's lance connected with Gaioumon's body, sending the knight downward. When his body collided with the ground, the force at which he was launched caused a strong hit that it broke the solid rock that he was currently above. Causing dust to rise Dukemon landed gently on the ground walking closer to the defeated foe. Knowing that the fight had been won, he retook his lower form of Guilmon with Takato joining along side him.

"You were awesome, Guilmon!" The boy responded.

"But it felt different fighting without you. Promise that when this is over that we'll be one again."

"When this is over I'll give you anything you want to eat."

"Royal Knight..."

Looking where Gaioumon had hit the floor, they saw that he was one step away from death.

"The strength of the Royal Knights is no lie, I see."

"Wait!" Takato said "Just who are the Royal Knights?"

"You can be classified as human, can you not?"

"Yeah but..."

"...Then perhaps you are the one called Yushima, with that being Sleipmon."

"No! My name is Matsuda Takato and this is my partner, Guilmon."

"Then you might not be a Royal Knight that seek I. Still, it was an honor fighting one of great strength as yourself."

"Wait, we need to know where we are."

"I always serve those with strength. Heading north is best option for you as many cities up there." He pointed north.

"But wait..."

"I apologize that I can longer be of service to you. May many great battles see your strength."

Speaking his last words Gaioumon's body began emitting a glow that soon transformed his body into a digitama. Picking it up, Takato knew that it was time to continue with their journey.

"Guilmon, do you suppose that all digimon in this dimension revert back to digitama's when they die?"

"It seems so."

Thinking about this Takato could not help but feel sorry for a friend of his. Had they been in this world she might have been excluded from suffering. Deciding that this was not the place to ponder about the 'what ifs' of life Takato decided that he would need to keep on going. Placing Gaioumon's digitama next to Zanbamon's Takato took off.

Following behind him was Guilmon. "I hope everything works out for them."

"Huh?" Takato was left in confusion.

"Zanbamon and Gaioumon. They will grow up together and maybe this time they will not be fighting."

Takato was amazed by his partner's simplistic view of the world. But, for this day, he was glad to have someone as optimistic as him.

"Don't worry, Guilmon, I'm sure that they will be great friends! Just like you and me."

* * *

Singed: GuitarDude Two-One-Five

Word Count: 5540

March 2, 2008 1:33 am PT

Please, don't kill me for taking away 'Biomerging.' There is a reason for this. As always, constructive criticism is appreciated.


	4. Night

Night has and always will be the time when people frightened easily. The same can be said about digimon. While a human's fear of the night was due to superstitions passed down to them by their ancestors, a digimon's fear of the night was the result of being unable to defend themselves.

In a mountainside, where the trees were a blaze, nothing seemed to be capable of living. Screams were killed by the silence of the night, as the total number of dying digimon kept accumulating. Those who survived this night would consider themselves lucky, had it not been for them witnessing the death of their friends.

A cross between a beats and a dragon digimon is running trough the forest of fire. It is covered in purple fur, with a large crystal on its forehead.

"DORUmon!" A scream called out to the sprinting digimon.

Turning around DORUmon saw a Guilmon and two V-mon finding shelter inside a cave. Seeing that it was the safest place from the spreading flames DORUmon knew that it would be wise to hide out there. Reaching the cave he was immediately greeted by the three digimon.

"Did you find any survivors up there?" Said the first V-mon.

"No." DORUmon responded. "They appeared to have attacked there some time ago to the point where the land appears dead."

"What about food?" Said the Guilmon. "Where you able to get anything?'

Placing his hand underneath his fur, DORUmon pulled a couple pieces of fruit, handing them over to Guilmon. Walking back Guilmon removed a sheet, revealing several baby digimon

"Here you go. Remember to share."

Watching the petit digimon pick at the food, DORUmon was glad that he was at least able to do something right. However, he was the only one who was somewhat satisfied as the first V-mon appeared to be angry.

"If only we hadn't of spend so much time looking for that blade! Then we might have been able to focus our attention on something else."

"That sword was our only hope and you know it!" DORUmon responded. "We at least had something to look forward to while we were searching for it."

"What good does it do us when the one who is supposed to wield it can't even reach the Ultimate level, much less the Royal Knight stage."

"Excuse me for not being able to reach the strength of a knight."

Strong tensions were building up between those two. Before they even had a chance to fight, Guilmon and the other V-mon held them back.

"Think of the small children." Guilmon told DORUmon.

"Brother, please!" Said the second V-mon to the other. "Omegamon put you in charge of here so it is your responsibility to keep us united."

"What does that sorry excuse for a sword know? Father should have kept him as the decoration he was meant to be."

"Please, brother, this is not the time to for this. You need to be strong for all of us, as you are the only one here capable of that amount of strength."

Knowing that he was right the first V-mon calmed down and made his way further back in the cave. Seeing that the conflict had ceased, DORUmon had also calmed down and was soon released. Also leaving the room, only the second V-mon and Guilmon remained.

"I swear, those two are far too similar to be in the same team." Said Guilmon. "We are the ones doing the dirty work, yet you don't see us complaining."

"Brother just feels robbed seeing as DORUmon is supposed to lead us and not him." V-mon responded. "You add that he was given the weakest role, and all the hard work he's done for us, and you'd be mad to."

"If only he could reach Imperialdramon Fighter Mode, then he and Omegamon might be able to stand a chance against him."

"Don't let him hear you say that. He already feels bad enough that he's let a lot of us down. Adding to the guilt trip would only make him angrier."

"Any sign of Omegamon?"

"He's still holding them back at Notos Oppidum. With him being the only one capable of fighting, it will only be a matter of time before it's over."

"Shut up!" Turning around, they saw that the other V-mon had been tuning into their conversation. "Omegamon may be a tool whose had it easy all his life, but if father left him in charge then that is good enough for me to have faith in him. Come on, brother, I expected more from you."

"...Sorry."

"Hey, we're back."

As the whole group turned their attention to the caller, they saw two digimon approaching.

"It's Hawkmon and Dracomon!" said Guilmon.

"But what's that they are carrying," said the first V-mon.

Finally, reaching the cave, the four digimon were able to see that they were carrying a large wagon with plenty of food.

"You actually found food?" Questioned DORUmon.

"We would have gotten more but we couldn't risk the weight slowing us down." Responded Hawkmon.

"Fair enough," said V-mon. "Brother, gather the children. They actually get to eat a good meal tonight."

Doing as he was told, the second V-mon went where the children were. Back in the entrance room V-mon began questioning the two.

"Did you manage to find any survivors?"

"I'm sorry but, with the nearby river being turned to waste, all the surviving digimon were forced to flea." Responded Hawkmon. "We manage to gather the remaining food they had in storage and there was only a bit left."

"This is getting far to repetitive!" Screamed Dracomon.

"Care to speak your mind, Dracomon?"

"Doesn't a fire always go out?" Dracomon said.

They all turned outside to see the burning trees.

"Okay, forget I said that. But, as I was saying, food supplies are low in all the nearby areas. Unless we become nomads we will eventually die out."

"Are you actually suggesting that we fight these things off?"

"Listen, V-mon, either we go or they go because in the end, we will not be able to share the same planet. Fighting them should have been the first thing we did when the population was still high."

"Even if we were all in our Royal Knight stage we would still lose. If we are forced to live the life of traveling nomads, then nomads we shall be. Are there any objections?"

"No, sir." Dracomon responded.

"What about the other six?" Questioned Hawkmon. "We should go out and look for their convoy."

"Duftmon is with them. They should be fine by themselves. For the mean time I want Guilmon and V-mon to continue maintaining watch. Everyone else, take care of the children."

"Well that's not fair..." Turning to the winning Dracomon V-mon signaled him mentally to stop. "I'll shut up now."

The second V-mon approached the first. "Brother, you know that the children like me. Maybe I should be in charge of watching over them."

"Do you know as to why I do not want you to baby them? Much like the Royal Knights these young ones will force to live a life of due or die. They need to learn early on that this will be the life they have to live; fighting along side us depending only on themselves and each other."

"But..."

"Brother, you baby them far too much. This is why they take so kindly to you; you are too nice. Heck, you are too nice to be part of this death squad. You are a good fighter, but not a good warrior."

"Father specifically started the Royal Knights in order to prevent other digimon from suffering our fate; it is not right that they are force to live a life of fighting."

"You are letting your heart decide what is right; don't do that again."

There was a silence between these two. One was right while the other was correct. There was much to talk about but at this moment, there would be no time for them to discuss their differences.

"V-mon," said Guilmon, "I can smell them. They'll be here soon."

"What?!" He screamed. "How did they find this location?'

V-mon's scream had manage to gather the attention of all the digimon in there, and told them to assemble where he was at.

"Dracomon, Hawkmon, did you evolve while coming here?"

"No, sir!" Hawkmon responded. "We did not take all the remaining fruit because it would have been to heavy for us to carry in our child level."

"Then how did..." V-mon's attention shifted towards DORUmon. "You! It was you, wasn't it?"

"I only evolved because they were right behind me. I made sure that I killed them all off before coming here."

"You bastard!" He ran up to him and delivered a head butt that knocked him out. "You've domed us all! We've set it so many times; only take your higher states if need be, it's how they find you. Why were you so careless?"

Walking towards the fallen DORUmon, V-mon was stopped by his other half.

"Brother please, this is no time for this. If they truly are coming then it will be best to prepare for them."

Looking at his comrades the leading V-mon knew that he was right. Without hesitation and fear V-mon ordered his team.

"Hawkmon."

"Yes, sir!"

"I want you to gather the small ones and leave out the back door. Make sure that none of them die."

"Right!"

"Dracomon, Guilmon, DORUmon, you all fight with me."

"Sir!" They all responded in unison.

"And what do I do, brother?"

The leading V-mon did not listen to his brother. Instead he kept walking, causing the other V-mon to shamefully look at the ground.

"I want you to provide cover for Hawkmon. Calm the children if it comes down to it."

As they all moved to their desired spots, all six digimon began evolving to their higher stages.

"Hawkmon, evolve to...Silphymon."

"Dracomon, evolve to...Slayerdramon."

"V-mon, evolve to...AeroV-dramon."

"Guilmon, evolve to... MegaloGrowmon."

"DORUmon, evolve to...Grademon."

"V-mon, royal evolve to...Magnamon."

Standing where the child digimon once were, now stood six of the finest warriors that this world had ever known. Each one of them was a beacon of hope and, though their lights were not well lid, those who saw them were willing to put their futures in their hands. The way that each one of them looked like they were indestructible, or the way they each held seemingly unlimited strength, were some of the reasons that people looked at them in a heroic light. Their courage radiated the air, allowing them to share it with the small digimon. With their new powers at hand the six were now ready to perform their task as ordered.

"Follow me," Silphymon ordered AeroV-dramon.

"The rest of you do not give these bastards any bit of your lives! Fight them back till the brink of death!"

As Slayerdramon, MegaloGrowmon, Grademon, and Magnamon stood right outside the cave they saw something that robbed their courage right beneath their armor. A tall creature, adorn in the shadows and lid up by the surrounding flames, was some distance away from them.

"Oh no... It's him," stuttered Magnamon.

The creature in question was several times bigger than their already impressive sizes. It had a strange feel to it that just screamed out death to all those who apposed it. Around it's body, which was still covered by the shadows, were the tarnished memories of all those who had lost their life to this monstrosity. The approaching behemoth was not only something to be feared, but something to be worshipped as well.

Just as everything seemed lost for these brave warriors one final obstacle stood between them trying to fight and them giving up. Flying gracefully through the air was the famed leader of the Royal Knights. As he gently cut through the air that carried the scent of death his shining red cape flapped behind him, giving him a heroic look that suited him perfectly. The way that his sword lead the charge and the way that his cannon was there to support him gave the other knights a reason to fight.

"Sir Omegamon is here!" Said Magnamon. "We must fight until this war in won! Charge!"

As they all flew off the ground they were ambushed mere seconds later by unnamable ground troops. Several burst of energy hit each one of the knights, forcing them to go back on the ground and duck. The increasing number of shots they were under seemed to be increasing in speed and in power. Losing sight of their leader they all knew they would have to defeat them first before they proceeded in helping him. Leading the team Magnamon went in for the first attack. Seeing the first abomination in his sights, Magnamon threw the first punch.

_These memories? From how long ago are they?_ Opening his eyes Alphamon found himself facing AlforceV-dramon. Knowing that he was currently sitting down Alphamon tried standing up, only to find that his whole body refused to move. _Yes, I used that attack on Omegamon. That would explain why my body is like this._

The blue knight approached Alphamon. "Sir Alphamon, we regret to inform you that you will not be able to partake in the operation."

"That is quite understandable. The Omegamon from here, while not stronger than others, knew how to handle himself against opponents stronger than himself."

"You are guessing that there is something on this world that would require something stronger than an Omegamon to take out?" Asked the blue knight.

"It might appear so. It also worries me what happened to the two digitamas belonging to Magnamon and Dukemon. He was somehow able to use his sword as a conductor to transfer their energy to the Parallelmon. They were no stronger than average, but I will not be taking any chances. Assemble them."

As AlforceV-dramon left the chamber, the whereabouts of the two digitamas were baffling the thoughts of Alphamon. _Was it even possible to transfer the energy of another digimon like that? And if so, it would need a catalyst of equal wavelength, meaning that the transferred energy would have to find a digimon who has achieved those evolutions in the past. To reach the level of a Royal Knight was near impossible, but even if they did manage to find the right body, there would be no guarantee that they would win. After all, unless they came back with a new source of power, they would be defeated just, like last time._

With several of the knights entering the room, Alphamon decided to end his thoughts right there. "Where are Sleipmon, Dynasmon, and Examon?"

"They have yet to report back, sir." Responded Craniummon. "Sleipmon went off to chase the other one while Examon followed Dynasmon to look for his other half."

"Any word from them yet?"

"Not yet, sir."

"Then we wait until they arrive. This universe is a bit different from the others, and I do not feel like taking any chances."

On cue Dynasmon entered from the sky and stationed himself right next to the other knights. Looking around he saw that he was missing something. "I manage to kill my guy..."

"Where is Examon?" Asked Alphamon.

"There was a nuisance that appeared after I finished him off. Since my orders were to report back after my assignment Examon felt it would be best for him to handle the situation." They all noticed the mark that he had on his face, suggesting that he had gotten into a small scuffle. It was quite small, so it caused them all to question the strength of their ally.

"About that thing on your cheek?" Questioned RhodoKnightmon.

"Just forget about it!" He shouted. "Examon should have taken care of it by now."

"It is safe to say that we are all curious about it." Responded Craniummon.

"Just say it already so we can get on with it." Ordered Alphamon.

Since it was Alphamon that gave the order, and not one of the others, Dynasmon knew that he would have to answer. "All right then, a human punched me in the face. But he just got lucky!" The room filled with silence. As all eyes shifted between Alphamon and Dynasmon all the knights knew what was coming.

"Let me get this straight?" Said Alphamon. "You wanted to put the team in danger just to protect your pride?" Dynasmon stayed silent and did not answer. "Answer me!" Alphamon commanded.

"It is just that Examon said he was going to take care of him so I felt that it would do me no good to say anything."

"For your sake, you better hope that he did. Other wise you will be force to pay."

And on his cue, Examon entered from the roof landing next to the other knights. "'Sup, guys." With all eyes currently on him, Examon knew that they were expecting something from him. Rather than saying anything he attempted to leave the room, not wanting anything to do with it. But before he had a chance to leave the room Dynasmon managed to stop him.

"Examon?"

"Yo!"

"Where is the human?"

"Oh! You mean that loud mouth brat."

"Yes! Him."

"He fell down a water fall."

Dynasmon turned to his leader "Told you it would be taken care of!"

"Examon, do you have this humans body?" Asked Alphamon.

"Didn't think I'd need to, as I doubt humans could survive a fall that big."

All of the other knights looked down at the floor, but still used their ears to follow the conversation.

"I didn't ask for your opinion. All I asked is to show me the body."

"Well I uh... I don't have it."

If one were to carefully pay attention, they would hear some snickering coming from the rest of the knights "Dynasmon, consider this your unlucky day. Now where is Sleipmon?"

They had completely forgotten about their other comrade. They had all witnessed as he went off to fight his counterpart and knew that it was taking him longer to get rid of him. Not receiving any answers Alphamon appeared to be getting angry. Hoping to not have to face an angry Alphamon, AlforceV-dramon responded to him. "Allow me to conduct the search, sir."

"Good. You are dismissed."

"Thank you, sir." And with that, the blue knight teleported in a quick flash.

"Show off," Said Examon.

"I think that I speak for all your comrades when I say to not talk for a while."

"Sir!" Dynasmon stepped in. "I do not think that it is necessary for us to put so much of our concentration against one human."

"I do not care how strong and useful you may be, but do not question my authority! I guess that it is time that I let you all in a secret. We all know how in some dimensions some humans are partnered to digimon. In very rare cases, like we have seen today, a member of the Royal Knights from this dimension was partnered up with a human. We have never once had to face off against a human partnered digimon when he is fighting along side his partner. There is a rumor tha,t when they combine their strengths, they have the ability to posses' great power. Though it would be interesting to fight against him, as Royal Knights, it is an insult to have to side with humans."

"So are you worried that this human could use his digimon to defeat us?" Asked Duftmon.

"There are few things in the universe that worry me, and only one thing that scares me. Anything that might have a threat against us does worry me. However, even if it only holds a one percent chance of winning, it should still not be taken lightly."

A blue flash appeared behind Alphamon, materializing into AlforceV-dramon. Around his body hung Sleipmon, who was seemingly unconscious.

"What happened to him?" Asked Duftmon.

"He was like this when I found him not to far from here. It seems that the other Sleipmon did quite the number on him."

Alphamon looked at the rest of the team. "If he was able to hurt one of our own without his partner's help, then we might be in trouble if they are found next to them." The rest of the team knew that they would have to take this assignment seriously. To give one of them trouble in a fight was one thing, but to manage to actually leave them like that was something else. While some of the knights looked at this challenge cautiously, some looked at it with excitement. After all, how often was it that they manage to find something challenging to do during their visits? How they sometimes wished they were human, just so that they could feel their heart pounding as their blood ran through their veins. "It is decided," he continued, "we will attack the desired locations and find the information we seek. If we are correct then this blasted journey will finally end. We will finally be able to go home."

The silence was dreadfully calming. There was much awaiting them back home. A welcoming party, death, war, and ill will. All things that would not take them too long to find. They were happy, of course, but they had lived their lives a certain way that would be defeated by the awaiting comforts of home, if there were any. But at the moment there were more important things for them to consider. These thought would have to sink like the morals they had lost long ago.

"Examon." Alphamon signaled to him. "I want you to look for the body of that human. If he or his partner are alive then kill them. We will not take any chances here."

"But that means that I will miss out on the destruction!" He whined. Alphamon looked at him in a force full fashion. "Ah, sure. Kill the human."

"Dynasmon."

"Yes, sir."

"You will go to a different location as a part of that computer is being withheld in another place."

"Understood."

"As for the rest of you..."

"Sir Alphamon." Interrupted Duftmon. "Pardon my intrusion, but what about him?" He pointed towards the unconscious Sleipmon.

"Well he doesn't appear able to do much, so I think that it might be best to let him rest."

"If I may, sir." Duftmon continued. "During my well earned free time I managed to create a device that would allow one of us to continue fighting even after we have fallen. When implanted on anyone their body would become a puppet, without much harm going to them, of course. Think of it as a way to continue fighting without us unconsciously knowing."

"So what you are asking is to try and experiment on one of your own comrades?"

"Well, technically, it would be going on its first ever run. Theoretically, it should already work. It is just that I have not had a chance to test it on one with a strong will as a Royal Knight."

"By your statement you have tested it on others, I presume."

"Yes and no. The ones that I did have a chance to test it on were a bunch of weak-minded digimon from a few universes ago. It managed to work but, since they were no more than weaklings, I am having doubts that it would work on one as strong willed as a Royal Knight."

"This device of yours, will it cause harm to him?"

"No, sir. Unless he fully fights it off, it will leave him unharmed."

"If he fights it off?"

"Well, you see, I was originally planning to also use it on our enemies back home, if given the chance. If they had been strong enough to resist its mesmerizing command then it would have damaged them just long enough for us to stop them from running away."

"But Sleipmon is injured. He might not survive the damage if he does indeed fight it off."

"Not to worry, sir. All it would do is sent a small jolt through his body, putting him out for a bit longer than he already is."

"I do not think it would be wise to test on our own comrades however, due to our already shrinking numbers involved in this mission, it would be wise for us to take whatever chance we get."

"So do I have your consent that this is okay?"

"Only because we are low in numbers but other wise, you are responsible for making sure he stays alive."

"Your wishes shall be kept, sir."

A blue square materialized in the hand of Duftmon. Approaching his fallen comrade Duffmon positioned the device next to the injured body. As the device began to glow the light radiating from it began tangling the injured knight. Continuing its enslavement of him it appeared to be causing him no harm. With the light finally fading, Sleipmon appeared to be standing up on his own accord.

"Is he okay?" Asked Alphamon.

"I believe so." Responded Duftmon. "Sleipmon, can you hear me?"

"Yes," Sleipmon mechanically responded.

"He appears to have as much personality as a MechaNorimon," Examon said.

"Technically, he is not himself. He is a puppet who will fight at Sleipmon's full strength, regardless of how badly his body is injured."

"Will that cause damage to his already inured body?" Asked a worried Alphamon.

"I understand your logic behind that question, and I can safely say that the answer is no. It would take me a while to fully explain the design behind my genius, so it would best be that we skip this part."

"Fair enough. Now, as you all know, every time we skip a universe, we get closer and closer to finding our target. I now believe that we have finally found what we've been looking for. However, rather than scouting the grounds of this world, we have all decided that, since this world has its way of tracking digimon in the digital world, we will use it to confirm its location. Since the computer fragment is split into three parts, I will split the group up as so."

All the knights listened carefully for the assignment. Though they all knew what to generally expect they knew they were not going to be surprised.

"AlforceV-dramon, due to my injuries, I will need you to stand by my side, just in case."

"Yes, sir." He bowed respectively.

"Duftmon. Since Sleipmon is under your care, it will be best for you to go with him. You two will be in charge of finding the main computer."

"Understood." Duftmon responded.

"RhodoKnightmon, Craniummon, you will search for the energy component. Be forewarned, you will be attacking a human base, so expect resistance to be high."

"Our defense will not be broken, sir!" They both responded, synchronously.

"Dynasmon, due to you not performing your duties, I will assign you the lone man mission to find the memory. Do not fail, as this is the most important part."

"Yes, sir."

"Examon..."

"Yo."

"Since you failed to carry out your partners duties I will assign you to clean them up."

"Tell me something that I don't know."

"All of you, be ready to leave in five minutes. Today might be the last time we have to do this."

With the other knights going of to prepare for the task at hand, Dynasmon caught up to Examon. "Listen Examon. We have been friends for a long time, not to mention partners since our early days. You saw what these partnered up digimon where able to do; just look at Sleipmon."

"Great! You're going to make one of them heart filled speeches."

"Be serious for once in your life! Anyway, this human actually managed to damage my armor. If he manages to evolve his partner, then you might be in trouble." Putting a hand on Examon's shoulder Dynasmon's hand began to emit a light white aura.

"Wait! What do you think that you're doing?" Asked Examon.

"I'm giving it to you," he responded.

Examon threw his friends hand of to the side. "Look. That is your ability. When I finally manage to reach it on my own, that is when I'll use it. You were the first to earn it and, so far, you are the only one capable of summoning it. I know that I'll probably be the last one to get it, but it doesn't mean that I won't be able to hold my own. When it does happen, it will happen." Dynasmon was left silent. "You okay their, bud?"

"I'm just amazed that you, of all people ,were able to think of something smart. It is like I'm seeing as new side of you."

"And don't expect to see it often. After all, just because Sleipmon and Duftmon are the brains in this team doesn't mean that the rest of us have to, by default, be of average intelligence."

"Trust me, they are not the only smart ones around here."

"Now just because you talk big doesn't mean you are big. Anyways, I guess I'm off to fight the big bad human then."

"Still, I wish that you were more cautious about going to fight of this guy. You yourself have seen what he can do, so I would expect you to be a bit worried."

"Not to sound like a complete ass, but I have a few trick up my sleeves that not even Alphamon knows about."

"Do so kindly tell."

"Pleasure. You see, a human's ability to make digimon evolve comes from that device they wield. You take that away and the digimon will be incapable of evolving past their current stage. My theory is: No device, no evolution, no challenge for me."

"You were able to come up with a theory all on your own?"

"If some guy in a coat can do it, why can't I?"

"But what about this thing about always wanting a challenge?"

"If he finds his device then I'll still fight him head on. Don't forget, we are the offensive side on the team, are we not?"

"I guess."

"I guess? It's a sure thing! Plus, this human has one giant weakness just waiting to be explored."

"You manage to spot his weakness from your small confrontation with him?"

"How can one not. Plus, fighting is my specialty. This guy should be no match for me, even if he does manage to find his device."

"Then, for the teams sake, I hope you do."

"And what about you, mister lone mission. Don't tell me this is where our partnership ends?"

"What can I say; everyone deserves a break from you."

"Just don't go and get yourself killed, Dynasmon,"

"Funny, that was going to be what I said next."

"Wow, guess we do act like a married couple. Looks like your group is leaving, I best be of to then. Make sure you get some for me in case mine is already dead."

"May you be watched over."

Joining the rest of the team they were all next to their partners. With them all being in position Alphamon used his remaining energy to lift up his arm summoning the Parallelmon orb. As if flashed it opened up three holes behind the knights. Walking in Alphamon spoke his last words to them. "Fight to survive, and survive to fight."

* * *

Singed: GuitarDude Two-One-Five

Word Count: 5254

March 7, 2008 2:15 am PT


	5. Normality

AN: Sorry for taking forever to update it is just that using the Savers cast felt so...awkward. Enjoy!

* * *

In the serene and alluring forest of the digital world Masaru and his partner, Agumon, emerged from a running river. As the two crawled out from the river Masaru removed his wet shirt revealing a toned body, with several battle scars near his chest. Trying to dry up his shirt by twisting it, he soon found it futile and decided to just wear it as is. Annoyed that he would have to travel with non-dry clothes Masaru's last nerves were broken.

"Okay, Agumon!" he shouted. "Time to find that huge dragon and kick its ass for making us run away from it! Like hell is he going to make us look like a bunch of pansies!"

Agumon looked at Masaru curiously. "But, Aniki, he didn't force you to run. You ran at your own free will."

"Don't remind me!" Masaru said, looking disappointed in himself.

"Is something wrong?" Agumon said, not sure if he should ask Masaru looked rather displeased with himself. Grinding his teeth, and looking at the ground adhesively, Agumon knew that there was something bothering his human partner, something that was a matter of pride. "Aniki..."

"That bastard of a dragon! I can't believe he made me run away from that battle!"

"I was wondering about that. It is not like you to run away from a battle, regardless of how badly things seem."

"And that is why I'm so pissed off! I should have stayed there and kicked his ass until he told us what was going on. First we see Dynasmon getting deleted by another Dynasmon, and then this dragon just flies and knocks the digivice out of my hand." After that small outburst, Masaru had calmed down. "There was something about him that didn't seem...right."

"What do you mean?"

"I couldn't quite hear what they were saying, but I did hear something about Dynasmon being ordered to leave as soon as he finished this Dynasmon."

"So do you think that whatever we saw here had more accomplices?"

"Could be. After all, there are five...seven...nine knights that we know of." Masaru responded, listing of the knights on his fingers. "But what I don't get is, if these guys are like the Royal Knights, why didn't the knights we know tell us that there was another group of knights like them. And, if there were two groups, why did that second group attack right now? If they wanted to play it safe they would have attacked right after Yggdrasil's attack on the real world. This new group of Royal Knights would have easily been able to defeat the knights we know because we had recently kicked their ass, and good! However, the old group of knights would have been pumped up at that moment, so maybe that's why they didn't attack after the fight in the real world. And what was up with that red dragon thing that aided Dynasmon? Is he a member of the knights? Or is he just one their supporters? I though the Royal Knights were supposed to be, you know, knightly. But then this new guy comes and he's a giant dragon. How can that be a knight? He also seemed kind of obnoxious and rude. And here I thought the Royal Knights were supposed to be chivalrous. So does this mean that this new group of Royal Knights is not the Royal Knights? Or is it just that this new group of Royal Knights has other knights than the ones we know? Ah! This just doesn't make any sense to me! What do you think, Agumon?"

Looking down he saw that Agumon was on the floor with a confused look in his eyes. "Too much talk about two groups of knights, Aniki." Agumon said.

Picking up his partner, Masaru was contemplating what he had to do. On one hand, he was still missing his digivice and he knew he would need it if he were to have another encounter with any of these knights. On the other hand, his pride as a man had been damaged, and the only way to get it back would be to defeat the giant dragon in a fistfight. The main conflict going on in his head was whether to handle the situation like a man or to handle it...smart. Finding either one of them and fighting them head on would be the foolish, but it would get the job done. However, trying to find his lost digivice would surely help him in case he was to confront any of the other Royal Knights.

Rather than wasting the time thinking about what he should he decided that a coin flip would decide for him, as there were only two sides to pick. Taking out a random coin from his pocket he tossed it up in the air and caught it. Landing on heads, the coin demanded that he look for his digivice.

"Guess we're searching, Agumon."

"Okay. But where do we start?"

As Masaru looked around, he saw the complications of this plan of his; he only knew the general direction of where his digivice went, but did not know if they were anywhere close to it. From what he was able to make out from where he was before, he remembered that trees covered the area they were in now, so searching for one small object would a more difficult task than finding a needle in a haystack. He also remembered that their search area was several miles in diameter and, taking into consideration that the wind might have blown it off course, they had a huge distance to cover. He knew this was not the most convenient or wisest choice.

Looking at the coin with disappointment, he was soon caught in a staring contest with it. "Just be lucky that a real man never goes back on his word." And with the small pointless confrontation with the inanimate judgmental coin out of the way he went to a near by bush, examined it, and made his way to another. "It's going to be a long day."

* * *

In his junior high school uniform Noguchi Ikuto was dressed in green slacks, a maroon jacket, and a white dress shirt. With the side of his face on his desk he was looking at the sky in a lull fashion while aimlessly watching clouds go by. There was voice in the background talking about something that he was certain would be on a later exam but, rather than paying attention to it, he was too focused on a small light that appeared in the sky. At first he though that it was a helicopter, but later dismissed that theory when it just stayed there, motionless. The light seemed familiar but he could not remember what it reminded him of.

"Mister Noguchi!" At the sudden call of his family name Ikuto jolted up to his feet and was meet with the eyes of everyone in the classroom. With a worried look conquering his face the teacher at the front of the room knew he had him in a corner and decided to question him. "Mister Noguchi," the teacher started, "how many moles of iron are left when you have fifty-five grams of it, as explained in problem sixteen?"

Picking up his book, Ikuto had to look to the side in order to find what page they were on, as he was not paying attention. Finding the page, he eyes were glued to it as he tried to find the answer. As for the rest of the class, they were waiting serenely for something expected.

"Fifty-five grams divided by the molar mass which equals to...about one mole," he said, almost robotically.

With snickering coming from the classroom, the teacher had a scowl look on his face. "Sit down, Mister Noguchi. Perhaps one day I will catch you when your luck runs out."

Hearing the bell ringing signaling the end of the day, the students gathered their belongings and exited through the door. Being the last one to leave the room Ikuto was not surprised when several girls greeted him outside.

"Hello, Ikuto!" They all said, simultaneously.

At the sign of all these girls trying to get his attention his cheeks began to turn a bright red. With all of the girls trying to get his attention Ikuto did not know what to do. He had learned that it was impolite to be rude, but he also knew that he wanted to get out of there as he did not appreciate their attention. As they were all enveloping all around him Ikuto managed to duck below them and sneaked away cautiously. Continuing to sneak through the halls, he was shocked when he was tapped on the shoulder.

"Hey there, Ikuto." Turning around, he saw that it was Daimon Chika, adorn in a similar uniform to his only instead of slacks, she was wearing a knee-length skirt of a similar color.  
"Chika?"

Gathering his composure Ikuto looked onto his fan girls as they tried to grab what was not there.

"You know," Chika said, "if you pick one of them, they will leave you alone."

"But they just care about my looks." He quietly responded. "Plus, I don't think my parents would want me to have any more distractions, especially after scoring so low on language."

"I heard about that. Weren't you in the bottom twenty-five percent?"

"Don't remind me..."

"Well maybe if you actually tried paying attention in that class..."

"I didn't pay much attention to math class and I'm in the top five percent."

"Well your parents are scientist, so maybe you inherited some of their genes. All I am saying is that you need to pay more attention in language since you grew up in a jungle and all."

"Oh well, I guess everything will be alright."

"Alright? If you don't shape up in language class you won't get into a good high school."

"Is that really that important?"

"What? If you don't get into a good high school then that means your chances of getting into a good university dwindle."

"Well I know that my parents are pushing me to go in a similar career like them, but I don't know just what I want to be."

"Then you should be working hard so that you get into a better one. What good are your good grades in math and science if your language grades brings you down."

"Um...I haven't thought about that yet."

Rather than responding to his comment, Chika put her hands on her hips and walked down the hall. Watching Ikuto's fan girls still fighting over him, she decided to give out his location.

"Hey, girls!" as she talked, they all stopped quarreling, "He's over here." Looking down they all saw that he was not there. Immediately they ran to where Chika was pointing, hoping to get Ikuto's attention. As he heard them approaching by sound of the floor shaking, he ran as fast as he could not even looking back. As Chika looked onward she could not help but laugh. "Maybe now he'll take the time to think beyond a few minutes." _He is far too similar to you, big brother._

* * *

Sitting in her police vehicle Fujieda Yoshino was looking out the window as her eyes were trying desperately to block out all forms of light. In her hands was speed radar, currently measuring the speed of the cars. Continuing to watch the speedometer Yoshino's eyes were expressing how board she was on the inside. _This is so boring_ she thought. Just as she was about to go into a deep sleep a yellow blur went by her eyes that made the speedometer act up. Waking up from her half asleep, half awake trance she put her vehicle on drive and chased after the culprit. Within a matter of two minutes she caught up to the culprit and, much to her dismay, he pulled over as ordered. _Great. Just another routine traffic stop._

Getting out of her police vehicle she walked over to the car she recently pulled over. She recognized the vehicle as an Italian Lamborghini, and knew that the driver would be one of those snotty people complaining about the speed limit limiting their enjoyment. "This is the worst," she said, finally getting there.

Reaching the drivers window she saw that the guy driving it fit the description of snotty, with the way he was wearing a driving scarf and sunglasses. However, she was not going to place judgment on him until she actually got the time to talk to him. "Is there a problem, officer?" He said in a snotty tone.

"May I see your license and registration?"

"Oh come on, sweetie." He responded. "If anything, it should be a crime to prevent this car from going at this mere speed limit."

_And there he goes_ she though as he continued to blabber on about the type and its top speed.

"Sir, if you want to avoid having it impounded then you will give me what I asked for."

"Okay, okay... Jeez."

As he took out the required information the man in question though he would try a new method. Handing out his questionable registration he saw as she walked towards her vehicle. Thinking fast the man reached for her behind, and grabbed it. Naturally, Yoshino was not happy with the current situation, and acted without thinking. As a pink aura glowed in her right arm, she threw a punch at the trunk, creating a large smoke cloud. With the cloud cleared it showed that her punch had destroyed the use for the trunk, and would require more than a paint job and duck tape to fix.

Just as Yoshino was about to show the guy what her left fist could do she heard her radio ringing. Walking over to her car she knew that the man inside the Lamborghini would not run, as he was too scared to even move. With that thought secured in her head she raced to her car and answered the radio. "Officer Fujieda here!"

"Yoshino," said the voice coming from the radio that she recognized as Megumi's.

"Yeah?"

"Captain Satsuma said to head to sector B-12. ASAP!"

"Why?" She asked.

"He said that he will prompt you as you get there."

"Right." Not wasting anymore time, she get on her car and pressed the gas pedal as hard as she could. Passing by the now broken Lamborghini, she threw the required papers out her window, making them safely land at the guys lap, who was still paralyzed by fear. As she continued driving, she could hear the radio calling her again. "Yeah?" She said, turning it on.

"Yoshino," said the voice of Satsuma Rentarou, "when you get there, make sure that no one gets in."

"May I ask why?"

"There are reports that what attacked there were two very large creatures."

"You don't mean..."

"That's right," he interrupted. "It appears that somehow a gate opened, allowing for the passage from the digital world."

"But sir! All the known digital gates have been disassembled. How is it possible that anything could get past that?"

"Considering that many of them came in their own way it could be possible that they have their own way of travel. Either way make sure that no human passes the blockade. I will be there as soon as I can."

"Yes sir!"

"Also, since Raramon is no longer with you, I hope you understand that if they are high levels, we might not be able to stop them."

"Understood, sir."

Turning off the radio, she could not help but remember the last part of the conversation. In truth, though this was not the first time her thoughts were consumed by her partner, this was the first time that she realized just how much safer the world was with partners by their side. Opening the glob compartment she saw her Digivice burst catching dust and, in the first time in years, she grabbed it, thinking that it might finally have some use once again. With the sound of her siren taking to the air she drove away to the uncertain.

* * *

Touma H. Norstein. To many, he was a profound researcher and a child prodigy who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine but, to his friends, he was a member of DATS and the partner to Gaomon. Dressed in a white lab coat he appeared the same as he did several when the Royal Knights attacked, only without dirt across his face.

"Mister Norstein."

Turning around he saw a man calling out to him dressed in a similar fashion to his. "May I help you?" Touma asked.

"I just wanted to tell you that your sisters interview begins in about five minutes and..."

"Five minutes?" He said surprisingly, looking at his watch. Without even thinking, Touma began to sprinting, leaving the man behind. After about five minutes of running non-stopped he reached a room with a big red door. Entering he was in a room divided in two by a sound proof glass. In the one where he was in there was only two people besides him; one man controlling the monitors and a woman who was just standing there just, watching. In the part behind the glass there were several cameras and microphones and people managing them. What they were all pointing at were two people; a man with a think mustache, asking questions, and a teenage girl with long blonde hair.

"How is her interview going?" Touma asked the woman who was just watching.

"You haven't missed much," Responded the woman, "It's has only been going on for about a minute."

"I can't help but feel bad about being late for this. I need to stop getting so involved in my work." Hearing that, the she could not help but chuckle. "What is so funny?" Asked Touma

"Funny how you are always complaining about not getting enough done in a day yet, when it comes to your sister, you always make sure you're there, several minutes early."

"Well what do you expect? This is an important day for of us. You know how things have become since I won the Nobel Prize, everyone just wants to get an interview with us."

"No, they do not really want to talk to the creator, just to the first person who undertook such a miraculous surgery. Everyone wants to hear about how scared she was undergoing a surgery that had never been attempted before. It is like talking to the first person that received a heart transplant all over again. The only difference this time is that the person who finally performed it is getting interviewed for all the wrong reasons."

"About that," Touma said taking a dramatic pause, "why is it that the only questions I get involve such insignificant things about how young I am and if I am single."

"Well what do you expect," she said. "At such a young age you have accomplished so much and, thanks to your looks and status, you have become one of the worlds most elegant bachelors. No one really cares about your direct accomplishments as all they see is a good looking, rich doctor with a bright future ahead of him."

"Gee, you are so honest."

"That is what I get paid for. Ever since you went international your father knew you two would be in the public eye and thus, he hired me to take care of both of you and your families image."

"Ha! Even after all this time I can't believe that father still cares about the family name. I understand why it is important, but to put too much effort into defending it, that is something else."

"Either way you are scheduled for another one of those afternoon talk shows next week."

"All for the family name, right?"

"Right."

As they both continued to watch the interview take place Touma could not help but wish that his sister was not in the public eye like that. True, she did give hope to people with her disease and to other people with so called incurable diseases. Still, people focusing on her struggle like that might cause Relena to become overcome in the public's eye. With the interview finally ending Relena could not help but instantly wave to her brother the second the cameras went off.

"Happens every time." Said the woman next to Touma.

Opening the door. Relena ran towards her brother and embraced him in a hug.

"Big brother!" She said. "You made it."

"Of course. Did everything go alright?"  
"Yeah. The guy was really nice and funny."

"Well that's good. How about we go get something to eat?"

Relena's face lid up, "Yeah. There is this newly opened Japanese restaurant a few blocks from here. Maybe we can go there."

"How about we go to Japan and have some done authentically," Touma joked.

"Yeah. Maybe we can even meet your friends from over there. It's been a while since we went."

"Wait, are you serious?" Touma was now surprised

"Yeah! We might have a normal vacation for once, big brother."

Rather than rebounding the suggestion Touma decided that it was time for a vacation for themselves. Looking back he turned to the woman who was standing next to him and signaled to her. As she took out a PDA she looked back at him and smiled

"Okay!" Touma said to Relena. "How about we leave in a bit."

"Okay. I'll go get my things."

As she left, he turned back to the woman.

"You know you spoil her." She told him.

"Probably," he responded. "Plus, I have been meaning to go back. I haven't seen any of them since I won the Nobel Prize. I am not the kind who wishes to end friendships because of something as minor like distance."

Continuing to talk, the two of them were interrupted by three armed guards who looked worried.

"Mister Norstein." one of them said. "We have trouble."

* * *

Looking up at the sky Ikuto felt something awaiting him. At the moment he was standing in a room with several small square lockers. Reaching for his pocket he took out his digivice and just looked at it. _I wonder how Falcomon has been these last five years?_ He thought. Gathering his thoughts he was, once again, surprised by someone tapping his shoulder.

"Hey, Ikuto!" It was Chika again.

"Oh," he said not sounding surprised. "Just you."

Staring at his uneasiness Chika could not help but feel something was bothering the former jungle boy. "Is something wrong?"

"I don't know... It feels like something is off."

"Huh?"

As they continued with their conversation, an explosion was heard from afar. Thought the explosion came from far away, the shock wave from it managed to knock both of them to the floor.

"Chika!" Ikuto said standing up and running to her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, not even a small bruise." Looking at the source, Ikuto could not help but feel that there was something familiar coming from there. Knowing that Chika was okay Ikuto dashed for the nearest window, jumped, and ran towards the source. As she watched Ikuto run towards it, Chika was not sure what to say or do. Instead, she said the first thing that came to her mind. "Wait! You still have your school shoes on."

Ikuto did not have a chance to hear what she said. Untying his tie and unbuttoning the first button on the top of his shirt he began sprinting towards the source knowing what to expect.

* * *

Pushing the brake, Yoshino managed to stop her car, leaving a large tire mark on the road. Getting out of her car she witnessed as several people were running towards her. Behind all these people was a large fire that covered the beauty of the sky with smoke. As the last of the civilians left the scene she ran in the direction towards the fire, trying to find the culprit. At the moment she was in the outskirts of downtown and, since people had ran away, there were several cars, some with their engines still on, parked all over the street killing, the image that this was a road.

"What kind of digimon was able to do this," she said out loud. "Either there are several child digimon here or one big digimon."

Playing it safe, Yoshino went back to her car, opened the glove compartment, and took out a berretta handgun and checked her clip to make sure it was full. Pushing her clip back in she took several small steps forward, only to see that she was below a large object blocking out the sun. Looking up, she felt as fear overtook her body when she saw what was causing the shadow.

"D...D...Duftmon?" she stuttered, barely managing to say it. Not sure if he was on her side or not Yoshino managed to pull out her gun, aimed it at him, and still managed to prevent it from shaking. "Duftmon!" She managed to say. "Were you responsible for what happened here?" Hearing her talk Duffmon summoned his rapier in his hands and slammed it down towards her. Seeing it coming Yoshino managed to jump out of the way before it hit but, due to the wave it caused, she managed to lose grip of her gun. "Not like it would have helped." She said knowing that a simple handgun would do nothing against a Royal Knight.

Standing up, she managed to run to cover and hide from Duffmon's sight. Looking at the holy knight digimon scanning the field, she knew he thought he got her. However, after Duffmon passed, she was shocked to see the digimon that was following him, helping him destroy the city.

* * *

Walking through a hallway, Touma was anxious to see what had caused the commotion. "Describe the situation again." He said to one of the guards who was currently escorting him.

"A species that we identified as digitally biological has invaded the premise." Responded the guard. "It managed to take out the whole west sector and countering units are being deployed as we speak."

"Do we have an accurate look for the perpetrator?"

"One of the soldiers stationed over there described him as a giant, white, samurai looking knight."

_Giant white knight_ thought Touma. _could it be..._

"Sir?" Said one of the guards, disrupting Touma from his train of through. "Is there something that we should know?"

"You're saying negotiations with it failed right?" Touma asked.

"Yes sir."

"Then tell all airborne units to go all out. In the meantime, we must get it." Reaching a door Touma used a keycard to open it. Rather than reveling a room full of computers and gizmos, it instead was a small bedroom. Reaching for the closet Touma pulled out a bag and, from that bag, he pulled out a CD case. Examining it, he put it in his pocket and looked at the guards. "Okay. Time to go."

But, just as they were getting ready to leave, one of the guard's hand held radio received an incoming call.

"Report," he said to the radio.

"The digimon... It is attacking the middle..."

"What!" Touma screamed. He did not waste a second. Running towards the mid section that was currently being attacked thoughts of losing his sister were running through his head. _Her room is in that section. I just hope I can get there on..._ But, before he finished his thought, an explosion coming from his destination managed to knock him down. _No!_ He thought. _That is where Relena's room is._ Jumping back up he immediately began running to what he hoped was not his sisters grave. "Relena!" was the sound that carried across the hall as Touma ran.

* * *

Singed: GuitarDude Two-One-Five

Word Count: 4646

April 25, 2008 7:11pm PT

Now there are a few questions that I have and I hope someone can answer them.

1) Are the cast from Savers ever referred as either Chosen or Tamers?

2) From what I remember watching subbed Tamers, do they ever specifically say that the show Digimon Adventure and 02 actually exist or what that just a promotion run by FoxKids (RIP)? From what I recall is was just a card and video game franchised ,with no direct mention to the show, but do correct me if I'm wrong.

Read and review!


	6. Invasion Part I

AN: Again, sorry for taking so long. Either way, enjoy!

* * *

There was a certain feeling that only came when one thought he was about to lose someone. Running through the halls, while trying to keep his balance from the shocks, Touma was still only able to concentrate on his sister. In the background he was easily able to hear the sound from the helicopters rotors that told him they were ready to attack. As predicted, he heard as missiles the were launched and heard them explode when they made contact.

_If that is Dynasmon, like I think it is_ He thought. _Then these guys do not stand a chance. But why would one of the Royal Knights attack now of all reasons? Could it be that he is looking for me? I'll just have to figure that part out later._

Hearing more explosions he was sent flying forward, landing on his face. Looking back he saw that a helicopter had crashed landed right through the wall. Remembering his oath he ran towards the crashed helicopter and attempted to pull the pilot out safely.

_So how do I do this?_

Looking at the doors he could tell that they were jam and, to make it worst, the metal would burn him if he attempted to grab him. Studying the room, he saw a fire extinguisher not to far from him. Grabbing it, he aimed it at the door, shooting it with the inside context. When he ran out, he threw it to the side and began kicking the door. After about three kicks, the door managed to crack and he was able to open in.

"He's only unconscious," Touma thought out loud as he saw the pilot. Removing his seat belt, Touma dragged him out and carried him far away from the collision. As he put him on the floor, he saw some guards approaching."Hey!" Touma called out. "We have a man down over here."

Seeing that they were coming to the pilot's aid Touma once again ran towards his desired location. The journey was short but a difficult one, with the main obstacle being that shock waves from the helicopters missiles. Eventually, his persistence to save his sister was rewarded when he made it to the center of the lab. However, though he did reach it, he was shocked to see that where his sisters' room once was, was now nothing more than fallen debris.

"Relena!" Not wasting anymore time, he jumped atop the ruble and began using his hand to pull the large pieces away. Though they were heavy and sharp he continued to go at it regardless of the strain. He was using his legs at full capacity and, when they were not strong enough, he began putting his back into it though he knew it would later cause him problems. "Damn it!" He screamed as one of the pieces cut his hand. "Relena! Are you okay?"

"Big brother!"

The voice had not come from below, but rather from behind him. Turning around he saw his sister running towards him with the woman from the recording room closely behind. She embraced Touma in a hug.

"I'm sorry to have caused you trouble, big brother." Relena said, pointing at his hands.

With that, Touma became a bit calmer. "It's okay. I'm just glad that you're alive."

With them still hugging, the woman from earlier approached them. "I hate to interrupt such a touching moment, but we need to get out of here! It is not safe with that thing attacking the lab."

Realizing what had to be done, Touma let go of his sister and stood up. He once again looked at the woman, "Please, take Relena out of here."

"But big brother?" Relena said worriedly. "You don't plan to fight that thing without Gaomon, do you?"

Touma placed a relaxing hand on Relena's shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm not reckless. I just want to see why this is happening."

"But what if you get hurt?" She asked.

"Remember what I said earlier; I still have to take you to Japan so we can eat a nice, authentic lunch. I promise, Relena, I won't let that digimon do harm to me."

With that way Touma spoke Relena felt secure with his word. In the end she knew that he would come back after this was done, regardless of what stood in his way.

"Okay," she responded knowing well that he would keep his word.

With his sister being taken care off Touma knew what he had to do. As he ran off to solve the reason why he turned around and gave his sister a reassuring look. However, what he was not aware was that, while he had tried to remove the debris out of his way, he had dropped the CD that he had picked up from his room. The only one who had seen this was Relena, who picked it up. Knowing that her brother would later come back she kept it with her, hoping to give it to him when he returned.

Truth be told, there was another reason as to why Touma had left his sister with what he considered a hired gun. Besides being one of the best medical labs in central Europe there was nothing in the lab that would specifically call for the invasion from a member of the Royal Knights. However, he was there and, since he was one of the more knowledgeable members of the now defunct DATS, he would be a prime target for anyone seeking information on the digital world.

Reaching outside he saw who he suspected all along. Dynasmon was, at the moment, fending off against three helicopters. When all three of the helicopters fired a barrage of missiles Dynasmon crossed his arms in an X and easily absorbed the impact from the missiles. Looking at his armor Touma could tell that the attacks from the helicopters were not leaving a dent on Dynasmon. Since he knew what he was after Touma decided to grab his attention before he attacked the helicopters.

"Hey!" He screamed.

Looking down Dynasmon saw Touma trying to grab his attention. Since he, at the moment, held to particular interest to the armored knight, Dynasmon ignored the lone human, and focused his attention back on the helicopters.

Needing to get his attention, Touma tried once again, "Hey, Dynasmon! I am Touma Norstein, Former member of DATS." That last word, it held an interest to the holy knight. Looking that the helicopters were out of ammunition he looked down at Touma. "You have no business attacking this place!" Touma stood firmly against the knight. "Why is it that you attack?"

Not wanting to look down on one who could help him find his desired item, Dynasmon place his hand on the floor telling Touma to climb on. Though he was somewhat unsure, Touma decided that since this could end the attack, he climbed on letting the knight bring him to eye level. "Why did you attack this lab?" Touma asked.

"I am searching for a device that holds memory." Dynasmon said. "I am looking for a way that will allow me to put an end to it."

"And this thing that you are looking for, what is it meant to find?"

"If you are a member of DATS, as you claim you are, then you should know what I am seeking. You can either help me find it, or die trying to defend its location."

Touma was now certain he knew what he wanted.

"So you seek that DATS computer database. Sadly, the computer is nowhere here. You wasted your time attacking here."

"I am well aware of the computer being separated, as that is why my allies are seeking those parts as we speak."

Touma had just found out something from the Royal Knight. He knew that he had to continue asking questions to find out more.

"Why is it that you seek an ultimate level digimon?"

"That does not concern you." The digimon responded. "Now, tell me; where might I find the data for the computer."

Though he did not want to admit it Touma knew that he had no choice but to hand over the CD. There was nothing anywhere near that had the punch to damage a Royal Knight, much less destroy one.

Touma was faced with a conflict that he wished he were not in. By handing him the CD with the data he had been seeking he could make a bargain for him to leave without harming anyone. The consequence would mean that they would lose the last connection they had with the digital world. For his other choice, by not handing him the CD, Dynasmon would continue the attack harming several of the civilians there. The consequence could be the death of everyone there. He had no choice; he would have to give it to him if he wanted to avoid having all their blood on his hands

"Okay...you win."

"Now where is it?" Asked the knight, looking at him in the eyes.

"Relax. I have what you seek with me."

Reaching for his pocket, Touma was shocked to find that the CD was not there anymore. Searching his other pocket he began scanning his pants by patting them, hoping to find them.

Nothing.

"Well..."Dynasmon said. "Where is it?"

"I know that I put it in here, just give me a second."

Dynasmon began to get impatient. "Listen, you either have it or you don't. So give it to me or else!"

"Wait up! I know I have it."

"You have wasted my time."

Angered with Touma's inability to produce what he asked for Dynasmon dropped the former DATS member and watched as his body hit the ground. But Touma was not a weakling. Seconds before he hit the ground he tucked his body and managed to roll before he hit the ground. However, there was a slight miscalculation in his timing and, when he hit the ground, he put too much pressure on one of his knees, causing a slight injury.

But he was being watched. He knew that Dynasmon would kill him if he knew he was still alive. Keeping his pain inside of himself he just laid there, waiting for the knight to leave. He wanted to let out the pain but doing so would lead to his death, so he continued to just lay there in a pool of his own shame, biting his lip.

When Dynasmon finally left, Touma attempted to stand up but soon found that the damaged caused by the fall was currently preventing him from walking. Falling back down he began crawling, trying to retrace his steps. Each of his attempts to crawl back seemed futile, as he was only making very little progress.

He was not going to give up. He began putting more and more energy in each one of his attempts to find the CD. As his nails imbedded themselves into the dirt he continued to make his way forward, even though it seemed like had only made very little progress. After about a few minutes of having his stomach being dragged through the dirt Touma saw some supplies up a table that he knew would help him in getting where he wanted to go faster. Without the use of one of his legs,Touma lifted his body up using his arms, and retrieved some items lying about.

After wrapping some bandages around his damaged leg he managed to build a makeshift leg bracelet. What he built was, by all means, not the most convenient way to travel, as the metal bars he used to construct it prevented him from bending his knee at a good enough angle to run. But he did not care.Managing to stand on both his legs he was using his good leg to move, while the bandaged leg was simply being dragged along. The run was hard. Every time he dragged his leg he felt that the part still holding it together was about to break.

With all the death and destruction going on Touma knew that the only way to stop it all would be to give Dynasmon the disk. He knew that he was personally giving him an important list, but there was no other way to stop him. Without the use of digimon on their side stopping the Royal Knight was as unreachable as the stars themselves. Continuing to retrace his steps he feared that the disk was with someone, more specifically, with Relena.

Attempting to run Touma fell to the ground when the self-made leg bracelet began cracking. As he made another attempt to get up again, he was knocked out by an explosion that was not too far from where he was. Examining the damage he found several walls now destroyed that would allow him to reach his desired location faster. Making it past the first destroyed wall, Touma was soon stopped in his tracks by a certain voice.

"Big brother!"

"Relena!" Touma screamed.

Running towards each other Relena easily noticed her brother's broken leg. The state of her brother dragging his leg the way he did was damaging to the young girl. She was so use to seeing him in all his glory, whether it be a sparring match or performing surgery. But, in this state, her older brother seemed...human.

"Big brother... Your leg?"

Touma ignored his sisters' question." Relena, I told you two to find shelter. It is very dangerous to be here."

Relena appeared to have a sadden look on her face. "But big brother, the way out of here was destroyed. We came back here trying to find an alternate route."

Knowing this, Touma shifted his attention from his sister to the woman who had been accompanying his sister. "Why did you come back here, unguarded?" He asked her.

"The soldiers protecting us were ordered to the attacking side. Obviously, I have no control over those who your father has not yet paid personally, so they just left us there for death."

Rather than responding back Touma looked back down at his sister at put himself and eye level with her. "Relena, are you hurt in any way?"

"No. Miss Haider made sure that she went first to make sure the hallways were clear."

"Just doing my job." The woman responded.

Touma looked at the woman and gave her an agreeing smile. After that, he once again shifted his attention to his sister. "Relena, I need you to find shelter. Do not come out until I say so."

"But big brother..."

"Relena, please. I will not be able to do my job if I think you are in harms way."

"But what is your job? Big brother, why is it that you have to do this? Why can't someone else handle this job?'

There were now tears in the girls' eyes as she began clinging to her brother. "It is because no one else can do this job."

"But you don't even have Gaomon with you. Why must you still fight even when you are injured?"

"Because I'm the only one who has faced off against one of them. I need to find a way to make him go away."

"Do you promise to come back, big brother?"

"Of course."

"Thank you," she said as she reached in her pocket. Pulling out a CD, she handed it over to him. "You dropped this when you ran off. I'm only giving it you because you are promising to come back."

Not sure how to feel about it, Touma reached for the CD, deciding that he would thank her later. Just as he was about to take it from her another nearby explosion caused Touma and Miss Haider to fall down. As he fell, Touma screamed in pain as the leg bracelet he had made broke.

"Big brother!" Relena screamed. Running towards her brother Relena felt light headed as she looked at the broken leg.

"Relena, are you okay?" asked Touma.

"Yes, but what about you? Your leg..."

"I'll be okay." He said, trying to hide his pain from her. "Now give me the disk."

"Wait, you're not planning on still trying to talk to the digimon are you?"

"It's the only way to get rid of him."

"But now you are really injured. How do you plan on walking towards him?"

"He will not have to worry about that." Said an unknown voice

As Touma and Relena began searching for the source of the voice, they both looked up at the roof as it began to fall apart. As the roof above them was lifted up, Dynasmon appeared, looking down at them.

"Relena... Run!" Hearing those words, Relena knew what she had to do, but the mere sight of Dynasmon had prevented her from running away. She wanted to run, like her brother told her, to but she could not.

Realizing that his body was to large for the structure Dynasmon began making his body glow. The glow was slowly making his body shrink to the size of a tall human. When his body stopped glowing he was now slightly taller than Touma, and would now have the ability to easily maneuver inside the building.

The first thing the newly sized Dynasmon did was approach Touma, who was still on the floor injured, and lifted him up from the neck. "So you have managed to stay alive," Dynasmon said as he began chocking him.

"Big brother," Relena screamed managing to move.

"Relena... Stay back!" Touma said, barely mustering the strength and air to do it.

"Ah, I see why you were so willing to hand over some thing as important; you do not want her to get hurt. I've always had a hard time understanding humans; many scream out the greater good only on put the lives of many just to save one person. Tell me; why are humans so complicated?" Not answering right away, Dynasmon gripped harder sucking whatever air was left in Touma. "What, do humans not understand the concept of being human? Like always, you humans are an interesting bunch."

Feeling light headed Touma looked around the room hoping to find a way to escape the predicament they were in. Miss Haider had been knocked unconscious from the earlier explosion and, even if Relena was not scared, he was still not willing to put her in harms way.

"Wait a minute." Dynasmon said, stopping Touma's train of thought. "Is that the disk?"

The disk. He had forgotten all about it. If there was going to be a way to protect the people inside the lab, that was going to be it. Luckily, Dynasmon had dropped him, but he knew he had to act fast. Unfortunately, he was still injured, preventing him from moving and being chocked like that had caused some damage to his vocal chords.

Within seconds, Dynasmon had approached Relena. "Give me that CD, little girl! Unless you want to end up like your brother."

"No! This belongs to him and I am not going to let you have it."

"I do not think that you have a say into what will happen."

Watching the knight approach his sister Touma was desperately trying to do something, but his body was telling him otherwise. He wanted to tell her to just hand over the CD to him, but he could not.

"Now hand it over!" Dynasmon said, reaching for it.

He had missed. Instead, he caught onto her wrist when she tried to prevent him from getting it.

"This belongs to my big brother! You have no business with it."

"Is that so."

Crushing Relena's wrist she let out a loud yell that awoke Touma from his trance of injury. Using his good leg to stand up, he attempted to run only to fall when he stepped on the injured leg. To Dynasmon's surprise, Relena was still holding on to the disk. However, the pain he had caused to Relena made her become unconscious. Without much force the holy knight digimon was easily able to remove the CD from her hand. Now that he had the item he had been seeking, the only objective left was returning. But he was left with one dilemma in mind; what to do with the defeated?

They had caused him far too much time, with the way they had hid the disk from him. Either way, he had to make them pay. Looking around he saw that Touma was immobilized and that he had already suffered enough. The lady that was with them was unconscious but, since she did not interfere with his goal, she would be spared.

But then there was the girl who had caused him trouble. She was a human yet she showed little fear, which also showed a lack of respect, in front of him. She would have to pay. Still being held in the arm that crushed her wrist, he slapped her lightly across the face, sending her flying.

For Touma, he now found that the pain in his leg had ceased. Watching what had just happened to his sister a feeling of hatred began accumulating in his right fist that awakened his digisoul for the first time in years. With Dynasmon hovering closer to Relena Touma stood up, dashed at the Royal Knight, and delivered a side uppercut to his opponent's head. Since it caught him by surprise Dynasmon made no effort to block it, thus knocking him to the floor.

Ignoring the fallen knight Touma went directly towards his sister and made sure that she was okay. Relieved that she was only out cold, and not dead, he knew he had to take her to a medical unit. But, before he had a chance to carry her to safety, an armored arm pulled back his shoulder and hurled him across the room. Hitting the nearest wall he saw that it was Dynasmon who had launched him, and who was now approaching him.

"So you think that you can take a cheap shot at me?" Dynasmon said, throwing Touma across the room again. Becoming somewhat accustomed to the pain Touma managed to stand up, but had no means of defending himself. "You think you can embarrass me like that?" Said Dynasmon once again, tossing him around. "Well? Do you?"

Even if Touma had the strength to talk he knew that doing so would end in his demise. Instead he attempted to standup, only to have it end in failure when he collapsed. Everything seemed to go slow for him at that point. He saw that Relena was still lying right were he last saw her, still in the same defenseless position. Dynasmon was slowly approaching him and Touma knew that, within a few seconds, he would once again be tossed around. Not wanting to look foolish by taking on the appearance of a lifeless doll, Touma made every effort to try and move, but his efforts proved futile when his arms were not responding to his command.

"You made me look like a fool," said Dynasmon as he kicked Touma on the side ribs. Feeling the kick, Touma wished his body had become numb, just so the kick would have just passed. "You think you can just hit me like that and be left alone? Well then get up and fight me so I can give you a proper death." At that point Touma did not know whether he wanted to get up or not. "So you are not even going to answer back? Killing someone as pathetic as you would waste my precious time."

Securing the disk in his hands, Dynasmon flew upwards, but not before turning around and having one last look at the carnage he had created. After examining his masterpiece he once again focused his attention on Touma. "Remember this day, human." Dynasmon began. "I chose to spare your life, not because you were a worthy adversary, but because killing you would forever label me. You suffered, not because you were willing to fight me, but because you showed a lack of respect in my presence. If you think it is an honor to have lived after fighting me then so be it. But know this, you only lived because I said you could live."

Seeing him fly off, Touma made one final attempt to reach his sister, but his body was refusing to listen to him. With the world around him seemingly disappearing Touma cursed his fragile human body one last time before falling to a deep slumber.

* * *

In the realm of an unknown world a foreigner and his partner realized that, just because certain food looks like something of an eight-bit video game, it did not mean that it did not taste what it was supposed to represent. As Daisuke and V-mon continued to stuff their faces with what appeared to be an unlimited amount of fruit they did not seem to have a care in the world. In deed, they did not.

Swallowing a large amount of food, Daisuke began speaking. "You know, V-mon, I usually don't go for this organic stuff, but since I haven't eaten all day..." Stuffing his mouth before finishing his sentence, his last words were not explicably clear.

"Daisuke," said V-mon, "what do we do about getting back home?"

At this, Daisuke was not certain about what was to happen next. He was not too worried about it, seeing as things always seemed to resolve themselves after everything was done.

"Relax, V-mon." He reassured his partner. "We are just going to go look for some friendly digimon and maybe they might be able to tell us about some evil terrorizing the digital world. Once they tell us we'll defeat it and something is bound to take us back home."

"You seem to be very sure of this plan, Daisuke." V-mon responded.

"Well, we have nothing to go with, so let's just hope that, once we reach the next digimon village, they can tell us if there is some sort of digimon, or something, that is attacking."

"But Daisuke, don't you find it strange that they would call someone from another world and not use chosen of their own?"

"Huh, good point." Daisuke realized that his partner made a fair point and summoning someone from elsewhere would be pointless if the world they were currently in had their own set of chosen. "Maybe they have lost access to come here from the real world. I mean we arrived directly here without going through the real world. This digital world, it can't be the same as ours, and I can only assume that it has different human world, too."

"Maybe you're making this more complicated then it really is, Daisuke."

"Could be. I just wished I had known that I would be spending an X amount of time in a digital world. That way I would not have come here, dressed in my soccer training attire. These shorts don't even have pockets to carry this thing!" He finished, pointing at the blue and gold digivice.

"So do you have any idea as to how it works yet, Daisuke?"

"Not a clue. Could be that it is just an upgraded version of the D-3's, seeing as you were able to armor evolve without the need for the Digimental of Miracles."

"Daisuke, when I evolved into Magnamon it did not feel like I would normally feel when I use the digimentals to evolve. It sort of felt like evolving to Imperialdramon, and the strength they both have were very similar."

"So, you saying that you had the strength of an Ultimate when you fought Spinomon?"

"I think so. But..." V-mon said, picking up another fruit. Taking a bite he began talking with a mouth full that made Daisuke have a hard time understanding. Finally, swallowing the food, his speech was understandable, "but that's just me."

"...Is that so? Anyway, I say we continue going in the same direction we were headed. We're bound to run into something."

Gathering some of their remaining fruit V-mon got up and joined Daisuke as they left.

"Hey, V-mon..."

"Yeah?"

"I just realized that, if I spend enough time here, Taichi and the others can finally stop all that talk about not having it as rough as they did, spending all that time in the digital world."

"...You do realize we have a world to save, don't you?"

"Just thought I'd bring it up."

* * *

Signed: GuitarDude Two-One-Five

Word Count: 4749

June 2, 2008 4:09 pm PT


	7. Invasion Part II

A knights' true purpose is to serve. To serve means to be loyal and follow without question. To follow without question means relinquishing one of their own will. To have no will is to be a knight.

A knights' true meaning is to serve. To serve for a good cause is to be right. To be right means the opposition must be wrong. To be wrong means to die. To be a knight means to not die.

RhodoKnightmon and Craniummon, two Royal Knights with no will. Their true purpose in living was to serve their leader and kill least they be killed. Blades that held the screams of the fallen are their tools. Their tools are an extension of their soul. They are their fallen victims.

Pondering the questions of life the armored clayed knights knew what was to come; a routine imbedded in them rivaling only their skills. Soon, according to the pattern they knew so well, the smell of death would take to the air, as those trying to protect what they seek would perish as many have. They were not worried, as they should be. The calm before the storm, while filled with doubt for everyone, meant nothing for these two knights. Meant nothing for any of them, really.

But on this night there were other thoughts currently running through their heads that had no purpose. Facing back-to-back the two knights seemed adamant in answering their questions.

"RhodoKnightmon, do you think that this will be the last time we travel to another world?" asked Craniummon.

"Lord Alphamon said that he was here, I see no reason to not hold dear to what he said," replied RhodoKnightmon.

"But he has been wrong in the past, regardless of what you may think."

"Craniummon, you are not losing fate in our dear leader, are you? He is, after all, quite strong."

"No. Far from it. Still, for how long have we been traversing the multiple universes in search for power?"

"Well now you are asking a question with zero to an unlimited amount of answers. Remember what Duffmon said; each universe has its own time separated from the others. Spending a couple of days here might only mean a few seconds back home."

"And spending a few seconds here might mean several years back home," Craniummon quickly responded.

"Be that as it may, but it is through traversing that Dynasmon found it. Even if we do not find what we seek, we will, in due time, all be able to ascend to his level. Every kill brings us closer to it."

"Speaking of which, what did you think of the ones we fought in this world? Did you think they were formidable?"

"They were stronger than the ones we usually fight. I would not say that they were anything outstanding but I would definitely say they were formidable. Is there a reason you ask?"

Craniummon focused his attention forward. "The Craniummon from this world was probably the strongest one I have faced to date. He seemed far more determined to win than any of the others."

"Well this dimension seems to be full of surprises. First Lord Alphamon was forced to use that attack during his bout, then Sleipmon is found practically dead, and now you say that this Craniummon put up a good fight. I would say that there is a chance that what we might finally be heading home, what with everything in this world being supped up. By the way, is that what I think I hear? The buzzing of the bees on their way to be slaughtered."

In front of Craniummon, traveling with an increasing acceleration, were fighter-planes. Equipped with top class weapons tech, the fighter pilots were confident in their ability to defeat the mysterious treat.

With miles between them and the jets, Craniummon did not look the least bit worried. "Only five? These humans seem to be overestimating their strength."

"Look on the bright side, we will return before the others do."

Summoning his shield and blade lance, Craniummon raised his shield while aiming in lance straight. RhodoKnightmon, still behind his bulky-armored companion, remained still as he waited for the attack.

As five missiles left the jets, Craniummon braced himself by focusing all of his attention on his shield. Felling the force of the missiles, Craniummon continued to shield his comrade. With the smoke clearing, the pilots were taken back as they saw the purple knight still standing without a dent in his armor. As the planes all flew past him, a pink blur made its way towards the five fighter planes attacking them apace. Using his sharp armor as a weapon, RhodoKnightmon had no problem slicing through the jets they brought.

Returning back to his original position, RhodoKnightmon watched as the jets went ablaze. Admiring his own work, the knight grew bored with the realization that the humans were underestimated his and Craniummon's strength.

"Perhaps we should make our way towards their base," RhodoKnightmon said. "It should not be too far from here."

"We have to be careful," Craniummon responded. "That generator could be anywhere inside the base, attacking at randomly might force us to look for him the hard way."

"Guess you are right. By the way, do I hear more of them coming?"

"Yes. I cannot spot them but I am certain that they are there. Aw, I see. They have developed stealth capabilities for nighttime combat. Using the darkness the night creates, you have to admire the ingenuity of these humans using a common fear like that. Watch out, they have five again"

Watching five more missiles approaching them, Craniummon once again braced his shield. When the missiles hit, the shield had no problem protecting both of them when they exploded. Still covered in smoke, the duo continued with their conversation.

"But the night should be feared, it holds more then enough mysteries. How many times has the night not made you cower when you were a child?"

Hearing the jets fly over-head RhodoKnightmon once again attacked with lighting fast speed, destroying the planes in the process.

"Yet, at the same time, we personally have seen the terrors it holds," continued RhodoKnightmon. "Many times we are that terror."

"I have said it before, humans intrigue me. Using the night has been a common strategy in warfare. Advancing all these years and still they do not abandon the strategies their ancestors gave them."

"Unfortunately for them, we have trained ourselves to ignore those fears. Pity."

"Looks like they decided to bring out the helicopters and tanks. Surprise they did not bring out the infantry."

Once again raising up his defenses, Craniummon felt the tank shells and heavy machine gun fire attempting to pierce his shield. After a non-stop barrage that lasted over a minute, Craniummon lowered his shield revealing a non-damaged exterior. But before the humans could muster their failure, RhodoKnightmon once again attacked with the blitzkrieg-like strategy annihilating them all.

When the screams finally faded from the night, the two knights found what they had been looking for and left. For those who fell, not a single tear was shed for them that night.

* * *

Yoshino, while driving a car that produced that same noise, had never been a fan of sirens. She could never once in her life remember when a siren meant anything good; that was until her current predicament. Appearing tired and broken, the sound coming from the police squadron rejuvenated her spirit. Upon seeing her boss, Chief Superintendent Satsuma Rentarou, she ran towards him expecting some sort of explanation.

"Sir," she said panting. "The knights... they attacked."

"Yoshino, calm down." Knowing she was worried, the former commander of DATS put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Now calmly, what happened here?"

Catching her breath, she was able to retell the events that occurred. "The Royal Knights sir, they were the ones who attacked here."

"The Royal Knights?" Rather then being scared, he seemed more surprise. "Yoshino, are you sure that it was them?"

"Positive. But Sir, there is something you should know." She seemed rather uncomfortable about telling what happened and appeared almost opposed to telling him the truth. "Sir, it was Sleipmon. He was here and helping in the attack."

He tried his best to keep his composer. He really did try. Still, while a respected officer of the law like him should have stuck to procedure, he instead chose to follow what was right.

"Yoshino, that's impossible. Kudamon has swore to always protect humanity, him being responsible for the attack would be impossible."

"Sir, I know it seems impossible, I wanted to believe something else to, but I know what I saw. Sleipmon and Duftmon, they appear to be the only two knights that are here. Sleipmon was even the one who attacked me."

He did not want to believe it. Heck, he wanted to tell Yoshino that it was impossible. But he knew her to well to know she would not lie to him like that, especially under the current situation.

"Yoshino, we need to find them. I need to see with my own two eyes." Walking towards his squadron he immediately used the radio. "Miki, Megumi. Make sure that nothing gets in this district. Also, do not call for any help to any outside sources."

"Understood, sir." They both replied in unison.

Yoshino was surprised by the orders he called. "But sir, what if we need some sort of back up?"

"We have both seen their power for ourselves, Yoshino. Men with guns will not do anything to frighten them. Even an air strike that could take them out would take a while to assemble. We are better off trying to solve this diplomatically."

He did not seem to shown any true remorse with his decision. He was certain that Sleipmon would do no such thing yet, as much as he would like to deny it, he knew he might be wrong. Knowing that the possibility of backup was out of the question, the two followed the destroyed path.

* * *

There were several aspects of being a living-Tarzan that gave Ikuto an advantage. While language was not one of them, Ikuto had a hard time getting lost through the small-crowed streets since he had the ability to jump from tree to tree or in a more modern way, jump from building to building. Doing just that, Ikuto was having an easy time getting to where he needed to be. Since many of the houses and shops were practically jointed, Ikuto was mostly walking having to only leap across buildings every once in a while.

Finally reaching where the main part of the city was, he knew he was at the right place upon seeing the destruction. Examining the buildings, he knew something big had attacked.

_A digimon? _He was certain. The only thing he knew that had enough power with that much mobility was a digimon and the only thing Ikuto was hoping for was that it was not one that was too powerful. Exploring the recently made ruins had brought him a sight he never though he would see, an abandoned city. Seeing as they were always full of people going to work, it was refreshing to see it empty, regardless of the circumstances. After about a few minutes of walking through the city, he encountered them; head on to make matters worst.

"Duftmon... Sleipmon, what are you two doing here?"

Looking at his companion, Duftmon gave the order. "Sleipmon, kill him."

Much to Ikuto's surprised, Sleipmon did not hesitate to aim his arrows in his direction. Due to the shock of discovering the identity of the attackers, Ikuto barely managed to jump out of the way from the arrow. Watching it pierce the ground, Ikuto knew that the arrow was sent to kill him.

"Sleipmon! Don't you remember who I am? I helped out Commander Satsuma Rentarou and the other members of DATS. You have to remember me."

Again, Sleipmon launched another arrow in his direction. Like last time, Ikuto dodged it but as he landed on the floor, the shock the arrow created knocked him on his back. Regaining his composure, he saw that Sleipmon was again aiming an arrow at him. Knowing that he did not have enough time to dodge, he just closed his eyes. Felling a strong shoulder pulling him back, he was able to hear as the arrow hit. Opening his eyes, he saw that it was Commander Satsuma Rentarou who had saved his life.

"Ikuto!" said Yoshino as she ran towards the boy and embrace him in a hug.

"Yoshino, what is going on here? Why did Sleipmon attack me?"

"I don't know, Ikuto." She said letting go.

Remembering why he wanted to be there, Yoshino focused her attention on the commander. He seemed disturbed, but was easily keeping what he was really feeling inside. Commander Satsuma, instead of making sure Ikuto was unharmed, seemed to be questioning what was happening right in front of him. He had seen it with his own eyes; Sleipmon attempted to kill a human, a member of DATS, to be more specific.

At first he had hoped that it was another Sleipmon, though he knew that was impossible. Still, he was trying to hold on to some small amount of hope. They were friends, after all. But this was his partner, his friend. He could not tell how he knew it was his Kudamon but he knew. It could have been their bond through evolution, or it could have been their strong friendship. Either way, he did not care; he was too caught up in a moment of disbelief to process the danger he was in. As two pairs of hands pulled him back, he made sense of the situation and saw that it had been Yoshino and Ikuto who had saved him from one of Sleipmon's arrows.

"Sir, I know you might be troubled by what's been happening here but you need to... Dodge!"

As another arrow hit, they all managed to move out of the way before it hit any of them.

"Sleipmon, why haven't you killed that brat yet?" asked a now angry Duftmon. Walking towards the fight, he saw that there were now two extra humans accompanying the kid from before. Looking down at Yoshino, he immediately recognized her from before. "So it appears that Sleipmon continues to fail in killing his targets. We'll have to fix that later, won't we?"

Turning around, she saw that Satsuma was still in the same trance he was from before.

"Sir, please. You need to snap out of this or he might kill you."

Satsuma Rentarou: Kudamon's partner. Since the formation of DATS, those two had always been side by side. Their bond was strong, though they rarely showed it in public. Satsuma trusted Kudamon even though his sole purpose for being there was to spy on humans. He had learned to look past that and in turn, so did Kudamon. He felt betrayed. Could all of those years they had spent forming their friendship been nothing but lies? At the moment, that is how things seemed. Their relationship, it was but lies build on top of other lies.

"Sir!"

Once again, Satsuma found himself being pushed out of harms way by Yoshino as another arrow hit where he had been standing.

Knowing that the revelation had been too much for him, Yoshino decided to put him out of harms way. Finding an open shop, she dragged him inside for protection.

As Duftmon approached Sleipmon he was contemplating why Sleipmon was not making any hits. "He appears to be somewhat robotic in his movements. Could this be one of the side effects from using the orb while he was injured? Can't be, I made sure that I got rid of all the bugs affecting the previous version. Regardless, I'll fix it as soon as I get back. Sleipmon, make sure that the humans do not follow me."

Walking away, Sleipmon aimed his arrow where Yoshino and Satsuma were hiding. For whatever reason, he had ignored Ikuto who was standing not to far from them. Since he was the only one who did not have an arrow aimed at him, he took haste as he began following Duftmon.

Seeing him chase after the Royal Knight, Yoshino made an attempt to follow suit only to be prevented from escaping her location due to Sleipmon's arrow. Jumping back to dodge it, she realized that she was not going to simply waltz her way out of there.

"Sir, due you have a radio on you?"

He did not respond.

"This really is the worst. Ikuto, please don't try anything too foolish."

Still chasing Duftmon, Ikuto easily recognized the location that they were in. They were nearing the old DATS base.

Unbeknownst to him, Duftmon was perfectly aware that he was being followed. He wanted to wait, make him think that he was going to get away with his life. It was all part of the hunt, after all. Slowing down, Ikuto began catching up to Duftmon but like the Royal Knight wanted, it was all part of the plan. Like that, Duftmon turned around and sent his rapier down attempting to smash Ikuto.

Using his quick speed, Ikuto easily avoided the first strike and, seeing that the rapier was once again coming in his direction, once again jumped out of the way. Landing safely, he opened his bag pack revealing an old toy of his, his boomerang.

"So it's a fight you want? I got the time."

Deciding to make the fight an even one Duftmon, like Dynasmon, began shrinking his body down until it was in a reasonable size to fight the human.

Ikuto wasted no time. Seeing that Duftmon was going to give him a fair fight, he rushed in without thinking about the difference in power.

Slashing at the knight, Duftmon blocked the boomerang with his rapier.

Ikuto saw that Duftmon was not taking him seriously. Rather than getting mad, he decided that he would use that to try and win. Pulling back his boomerang, he attempted a quick strike at Duftmon's side only to still have his boomerang blocked by the rapier. As Duftmon saw an open opportunity he attempted to stab Ikuto only to have Ikuto jump back, avoiding injury. Throwing his Boomerang at Duftmon, the knight used his free hand to swat it away, relinquishing Ikuto of any weapons.

Duftmon had been left somewhat amused by the boys' antics. "You have strength and agility, such a shame you will have to die here. Though, if you don't mind me asking, how did you manage to achieve that speed? I've seen plenty of humans and none of them could pull off a fraction of what you just did. It seems... inhuman."

Rushing in, Ikuto was hoping that he would think of a plan midway through. Duftmon was once again amused by what he was seeing. But as one of the honored members of the Royal Knights he knew what he had to do.

Still holding back his full strength, he too rushed forward with an attempt to finish the boy off. Finally in close proximity Duftmon slashed his blade at him only to have Ikuto jump to the side, rolling as he hit the ground to get back up. Seeing his Boomerang lying on the floor, Ikuto rushed towards his weapon. Reaching it, he grabbed it and once again attempting to take down the knight.

Again, both opponents rushed at each other. When the boomerang and the rapier clashed midpoint it was clear that Duftmon was winning, even though it was obvious he was holding back. Seeing an opportunity, Ikuto stepped back tripping the knight forward. Making more distance between them, Ikuto again threw his boomerang at Duftmon. Still down Duftmon, much to Ikuto's surprised, caught the Boomerang with his freehand without much effort.

"My," Duftmon began saying as he stood up, "I was right, you are stronger than most humans. I am rather curious and must thus ask, how did you do it?"

Not wanting to give Duftmon any satisfaction, Ikuto refused to answer.

"You are rather shy, aren't you? No matter, let me see if I can convince you to talk." Putting the hand holding the boomerang in front of himself, Duffmon squashed it in his hand, effortlessly.

It was gone, his last connection he had left from his former life as a digimon. He was showing how hurt he was in front of his enemy but he did not care.

"So your weapon, it seems to have some sort of sentimental value. You humans and giving value to something meant to fight. But this weapon, I recognized that material, it is nonexistent in the real world. You did not grow up here, didn't you?"

With no weapon at hand Ikuto rushed in, anger overtaking his body. But he was foolish in his action. When he approached, Duftmon stopped Ikuto and grabbed him by his hands, stopping him in his tracks.

Duftmon had wasted his time with the boy so now he wanted to make him pay. "You grew up in the digital world, probably thinking you were some sort of digimon."

Ikuto continued to try and free himself to no avail.

"Did they call you a freak? Did they make fun of you? They never really accepted you as part of their family, did they? Did you even have a family?"

"Shut up!" Ikuto shouted.

"Did some lowly digimon take you as one of their own? Were they too seen as freaks?"

"Shut up!" Ikuto shouted again.

"What, did I hit a sensitive spot in your ego? My, you are an interesting one."

"Just shut up!"

"Shut up? You finally decide to talk and that is all you can say huh. One side did a terrible job in not teaching you proper manners; I'm guessing it was you parents from the digital world, of course. As much as I hate to admit it, some of us digimon are a bit on the lacking when it comes to those kinds of things."

With that final insult running through his head Ikuto lifted his knees up and used his feet to kick Duftmon in the face. Being in the position he was in, Duftmon was not expecting continuing the fight with the boy given that he though he had broken him. But as Ikuto freed himself from Duftmon's grasp the knight felt more interested in him than he was before.

"You should consider yourself lucky. If it wasn't for my work, I'd be delighted into turning you into an experiment. Now move aside."

Again, with no weapon at hand, Ikuto rushed in not caring for his safety. Duftmon, however, showed signs of being displeased. Punching the boy in the stomach, the knight made sure to not kill him.

Defeated, Ikuto just stayed there as tears began running down from his eyes. They were not from the pain, no; Ikuto refused to give Duftmon that kind of satisfaction. Instead, those tears came from feeling helpless, something he had not felt since his childhood. He did not have anymore to give; Duftmon had rid him of any fight he had left. He was just going to have to take whatever Duftmon dished out, regardless of the pain it would cause.

But Duftmon did not attack him. Instead he just left him there, sulking in his own misery.

"You are an interesting specimen," Duftmon turned around. "Unfortunately, work calls. Shame, I could have learned so much from you."

Everything after that happened so fast. Duftmon entered the building, grabbed what he was looking for, and left. As for Ikuto, he just stayed there, even after he had recovered from the punch, feeling like a helpless child.

"Falcomon," he managed to say, "we are you?"

* * *

Yoshino had made three attempts at escaping, having them all end with her returning back. She was in a predicament; stay where she was to make sure Satsuma did nothing to endanger himself or try and reach Ikuto before he endangered himself. Knowing that Ikuto could defend himself, and that she was not going anywhere regardless of how many times she tried, she knew that it would be best to remain with Satsuma seeing as he was not acting like himself. To her surprise, he finally spoke.

"Yoshino, thanks."

He had snapped out of it. Walking towards the exit, he showed no fear as he was approaching his partner.

"Sir, be careful."

"I will, Yoshino."

Stepping outside Satsuma Rentarou showed no fear when Sleipmon aimed the bow directly at him. He kept his demeanor; he knew what he had to do.

"Sleipmon, I do not know why you decided to attack but know that you will be forgiven. Please Sleipmon, stop this now."

There was almost a slight bit of remorse in the eyes of the knight. But that did not stop him from attacking his partner.

Watching from the sidelines, Yoshino saw that he was not getting through to Sleipmon and managed to push him out of the way before he was struck.

"Sir! Please. I know you mean well but if you are not careful you will die here."

"So apparently you two are still alive." Looking up, Satsuma and Yoshino saw that Duftmon had returned. Hovering above them, he slowly drifted down landing gently next to Sleipmon. "Seeing as you somehow managed to survive I shall grant you two the gift of life. What you do after is of no concern to me. Sleipmon let us make haste."

Following his orders, both knights flew up as a portal opened. This did not stop Satsuma from still trying to convince his partner.

"Kudamon, you swore to protect humans. Why are you all of a sudden attacking us?"

There never came an answer. Both knights disappeared as the portal close leaving the former DATS members defeated.

Without their digimon, they were helpless. But they were not going to take their defeat lying down, not if Satsuma could say anything about it. Knowing what had to be done and who might die in the process, the commander of DATS decided that it was time to come out of retirement.

"Come Yoshino, we need to search for Ikuto to make sure that he is okay." Upon reaching the car, he already began taking his role as commander. "Use the radio to tell Miki and Megumi to get Touma on the line. We are taking DATS out of retirement."

* * *

Takato still had questions about it. His old digivice had been replaced with something he did not know how to control. His digisoul, that he figured was what caused Guilmon to evolve, seemed to need some sort of activation reflex since he had not been able to summon it since the fight with Gaioumon. Though he was worried that another digimon, more specifically another ultimate, might attack them, Guilmon was not.

Stuffing his face with fruit from a nearby tree, Guilmon was not worried that they were in a strange world. Instead, he was more worried about his partner not willing to eat due to being too worried about their current predicament.

"Takato, you need to eat before you faint."

"Guilmon, we need to find a way to get out of here; at least find a way to evolve again just in case another Digimon attacks us."

"So if I evolve again you promise that you will eat?"

"Yes."

"Okay then. Just say what you said before and it will all be over."

"Okay but I'm telling you that it's not working." Placing his hand over the digivice, Takato readied for his digisoul. "Digisoul charge. Overdrive!"

Nothing happened.

"You wanna try again?"

"Alright." Takato once again placed his hand over the digivice hoping it would work this time. "Digisoul charge. Overdrive!"

Again, nothing happened.

"See."

"Well maybe you're doing it wrong, Takato."

"But I did it just like last time. Could there be something else?"

"Maybe it's because you're hungry."

"Guilmon please, I can't think about food at a time like this."

"But Takato, it is during a time like this that it is best to talk about food. It will get your mind of things and then maybe you'll be able to summon your digisoul."

"I don't know."

Looking at his worried partner Guilmon reached up and placed a comforting hand on his partners shoulder. It was funny how at one point they were the same size but now, Guilmon had to look up if he wanted to see eye-to-eye with him.

"Trust me." Guilmon said as a smile ran across his face.

Again, Takato trusted his partner and knew that everything would be all right. Deciding that he was putting himself through too much stress, Takato knew that a break from it all might cause him to concentrate better at the task at hand. Stealing one of the fruits from his partner, he ate it and was delighted with what he tasted.

"Wow! These are really good. Though I do hope I'm not being too easy on it because I have not eaten since the morning."

"Nope. These are that good."

"But after this, we get back to trying and figuring out where we are exactly."

"Alright."

As the two indulged themselves with all the fruit they could eat, the sun began setting giving the moon a chance to shine. With the day finally ending, the two decided that it would be best not to travel until morning.

* * *

Upon arriving back at the base, Duftmon saw that Craniummon and RhodoKnightmon had already returned with their part. Close to them was UlforceV-dramon still by Alphamon's side, whose condition had not improved. Behind Duftmon was Sleipmon looking as robotic as ever and somehow still standing.

"Well I'm in for a busy night," Duftmon said.

RhodoKnightmon looked at him curiously. "What makes you say that?"

"First I have to fix that computer and then I have to fix all these damn bugs in the orbs system." Duffmon did not sound please. "That is, permitting, Dynasmon managed to do his job by himself."

"Have some faith in me, will you not."

Hearing Dynasmon's voice, the rest of the knights seemed baffled when he did not appear.

"Look closer," Dynasmon said upon his annoyance.

Finally seeing him, they were all surprised to see him not a giant but as a small knight.

"What is the matter with you, Dynasmon?" asked Craniummon. "You know that it is disrespectable to be in that form in front of Lord Alphamon."

"Well I had to get the disk and being who fragile it was, I had to take this form." Dynasmon was again enraged by his comrades teasing.

RhodoKnightmon stepped in. "But you have the disk now; just turn into your big self and show some respect."

"I'd rather not."

Staying out of the conversation where Alphamon and UlforceV-dramon, who merely looked annoyed by their antics.

"Unless you are hiding something, Dynasmon, I too suggest you return to your old self."

"Or what, I can take down each one of you if I wanted. I suggest you all shut..."

"Dynasmon!" UlforceV-dramon interrupted. "You know the proper way to show respect. As for the rest of you, you are all acting like children."

"Pardon out behavior sir," Craniummon began. "It is just that this might be the last time we travel to a foreign world. If Lord Alphamon is correct, at which I'm certain that he is, we will finally be able to return home. We cannot help it if we are a bit exited."

"Understood. Now Dynasmon, how about you show some respect."

Knowing that he was outnumbered, Dynasmon began increasing in size. Eventually, he was the same height as his pears but his shame would soon be known.  
"Didn't that mark on your cheek heal before you left here, Dynasmon?" asked RhodoKnightmon.

"Yes. It did."

"Does that mean what I think it means?" RhodoKnightmon said in a tease full tone. "Did another human punch you?"

Though he did not say it, they all knew the answer was yes. They were not going to let him live it down that he got punched by a human twice in the same day.

"You know, for one who prides himself in being the strongest," Duftmon began, "you sure do know how to make an embarrassment of yourself."

With a white aura overtaking Dynasmon's body, he threw a punch at Duftmon only to have Sleipmon step in and take the blow, knocking him out. Knowing he was angry, RhodoKnightmon attempted to stop the angered Dynasmon only to be immediately knocked to the ground before he laid his hands on him. With RhodoKnightmon on the ground, Dynasmon attempted to deliver a potentially fatal blow only to have his hand blocked by Craniummon, who was now also glowing in the same white aura Dynasmon was.

"You did not think you were the only one with that trick up his sleeve, did you?"

"But... but when?"

"Agreed." Looking over to UlforceV-dramon, Craniummon and Dynasmon saw that the rest of the knights were baffled by the new revelation. "Tell us, Craniummon, when did it happen?"

"It was definitely after today's battle, sir."

"Then that is good then," UlforceV-dramon continued. "Dynasmon, you will apologize to your teammates and control that temper of yours. We have had this talk before. Duffmon, what exactly did you do to Sleipmon?"

As they all turned around, they saw that the orb had left Sleipmon's body only to have him look worst than before. He looked almost at the edge of death but was hanging on.

"It must be a side effect, sir," he quickly responded.

"Go put him somewhere where he may lie down."

"Right!"

Carrying him away, the rest of the knights were surprised when Alphamon spoke.

"My friends gather round."

Not even wasting time being surprised by his recovery of energy, they all knelled down in front of him. When Duftmon returned, he too knelled in front of his lord.

"My comrades, with Craniummon's new revelation I know that the time is upon us to return back home. Once we are done here, we will prevail and regain the land we once lost. Now Duffmon, make us proud, locate OuRyuumon so we may take his strength for ourselves."

"Understood, sir."

* * *

Signed: The Two-One-Five

Word Count: 5740

June 30, 2008 7:11pm PT

AN: as always, remember to read and review :-)


	8. Ambush!

**AN:** Again, I would like to thank all those who reviewed. Your reviews are encouraging regardless of how little you say.

* * *

News media outlets from around the world had gone crazy the day after, at least according to Yushima Hiroshi. They were all reporting about the creatures as if it were new news, not realizing that they were the same 'creatures' that attacked five years ago.

"They do not even know they are reliving what already happened," the old fisherman said, reeling in his lure. "I wonder how long it will take before they reinstate the old DATS team. I better get going, just in case they need someone with my experiences."

Dressed in some raggedy fishing vest and matching hat, Yushima gathered his equipment and belongings and left his current location. But as he was leaving the bridge, where he was fishing, the news report coming from a nearby television caught his attention.

"In national news," said the television reporter, "Director Hashiba refused to comment on the so called Digimon. For those who don't remember, he has denied that the government had anything to do with those events, five years ago.. When asked whether people should be scared, he refused to answer. Our reporters are standing outside his office hoping to get more but, until then, we have no idea what is going on."

_So Hashiba somehow managed to keep his job. I do wonder whether he will have some sort of opposition to the reformation of DATS. Now I know they will need my help handling him._

"In world news," continued the reporter, "the other two confirmed attacks happened in a newly built military base in the states and a newly built research lab in Central Europe. It appears that all were attacked roughly at the same time, with death and destruction following suit."

Ignoring the rest of the report, Yushima went his way, but not before going to a nearby store and purchasing something to drink. "Give me a bottle of something that lies between your weakest and your strongest!"

"Aniki, do you think we can take a rest?" Agumon was not pleased with his partner's unwillingness to rest. They had spent the previous day looking for the digivice and, since starting their search, they had made no progress; Agumon knew that they were nowhere near finding it.

"Come on, Agumon!" Though one would think Masaru would be angry about having to search for his digivice, he seemed far more determined in searching than he had in fighting the last batch of digimon they handled. "Think of it as a challenged. Our goal is to find it before sundown. What do you say, Agumon?"

"But can we take a break? Or can we at least fight some digimon to get the adrenaline pumpin'?"

"Agumon, do you even have adrenaline in your body? Plus, all the digimon around here are lightweights, not even worth hurting my knuckles over. By the way, what do you think is happening with the Royal Knights? Do you think that instead of searching we should be trying to see what's happening?'

"But we don't really know what exactly happened. We might be walking into a death trap without some form of defending ourselves."

"Agumon! Are you saying that I can't handle them?"

"No offense, Aniki, but not even you would be able to handle all of them at the same time. Our best bet of taking them down would be to find the digivice." Agumon looked out at the forest, which appeared to go on forever. "Regardless of how boring it might get."

"Then lets get searching! Come on, Agumon, get off your ass and let's start searching!"

"But can we eat first, Aniki?'

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to have something..."

"Aniki!" Agumon interrupted, pushing Masaru down.

"Agumon, what was that for?" Masaru then looked up and saw. "Oh."

A large ninja shuriken had struck the tree they were looking at. Masaru guessed that it had been aimed in his direction.

"Are you okay, Aniki?"  
Rather than answering the question, Masaru got back up and, rather than trying to find his assailant, he instead decided to call them out. "Hey! What kind of person attacks a man when his back is turned!?"

With the way he had shouted, Agumon was certain that every digimon within proximity had heard.

"Why are you two here, trespassing on this land?" Asked a voice.

"Hey! Why don't you show your face so I can kick your ass!?"

"Do you think I'm scared by the threats from some hooligan? Plus, I doubt you would be able to, as you say it, kick all of our asses."

"The more the happier!" Masaru said punching his open palm. "Right, Agumon?"

"I think you mean the more the merrier, Aniki."

"That too."

"Foolish fools." Came the voice. "You will die a million deaths for your insolence."

"Now who's the one making treats? Alright, Agumon, let's show these guys our true power."

"Choose your weapon, fool." Hearing that voice, Masaru was getting annoyed with it.

"I choose my fist," he responded confidently, moving his arms up to defend his head.

"Then die with your pride."

That is when they began hearing several footsteps around them. Knowing that they were surrounded they faced back-to-back, hoping they would not be taken by surprised. Anticipating the attack, Masaru was not surprised when something jumped out from his side. Though he could not make out what it was, exactly, he managed to see just enough to know when to attack. When it got close enough Masaru threw a punch that collided with the intended target, sending it flying towards some bushes.

"My fist followed up with those threats! What do you have to say about that!?"

He noticed that his digisoul had activated. He also noticed that there were some pieces of broken metal lying below where he had made the punch. Letting his guard down, something that was too fast for the eye to see launched itself at Masaru.

"Baby Flame!" Shooting out a small fire burst, Agumon managed to knock out the digimon responsible for the attack.

"Thanks, Agumon." Looking down at the fallen opponent, Masaru saw that it was a large, round, purple-cloaked digimon that looked like a ninja. "Who is this clown, Agumon?"

"That's Kougamon, a data mutant type digimon who fights using the Kouga style of ninjutsu."

"Now let's see who his friend is." Going to where the other digimon had been knocked out, he saw a similar looking digimon only in red. Picking him up, he threw the red ninja near his comrade.

"Let me guess, RedKougamon?"

"No. That's Igamon, another data mutant type digimon who fights using the Iga style of ninjutsu."

"Now which one of you was it that called me a fool?"

"Screw you!" said Kougamon

"Yeah! Screw you!" joined Igamon.

Masaru immieadtly noticed something that told him that his fight wasn't over. "Wait, neither one of you have that voice I heard.

"Excellent observation."

Turning around, Masaru saw another attacker about to strike with a sword. Having enough time to defend, he threw a punch that collided with the digimon's sword.

"And just who might you be?" asked Masaru seeing the attacker in plain sight.

"The name's Musyamon, though I doubt you'd live long enough to care." He was still trying to push his sword against Masaru's fist but had no luck.

"To tell you the truth, I didn't really care. Just think it's consider rude to not ask for the name of the one whose ass you're about to kick." As both jumped back, Masaru was able to fully make out his opponent. He had the appearance of a samurai, with red armor covering his body. He wielded a large sword that Masaru knew would be his main attack. "And just to let you know who is about to kick your ass, just call me Daimon Masaru, self proclaimed defender of the digital world."

"Daimon?" asked a confused Musyamon. "Never heard of your type before."

"I'm a human, you bastard!"

"Wait, are you the Daimon Masaru?"

"Damn right!"

"The one who, with his fist defeated, Yggdrasil?"

"I had some help from my friends, but yeah."

"The one who breaks up scuffles when one group of digimon fights another?"

"You guessed it."

"Well then it seems that your legend surpasses the real deal, because you look like a chump to me."

"What did you call me!?" shouted Masaru.

"You heard me, a chump. You probably got lucky during your fight with Yggdrasil."

"That's it! Okay pal, I can take being attacked from behind; I can even take almost dying because of it. But don't you ever deny my victory!"

Charging in swiftly, Masaru managed to get through Musyamon's defenses and land a punch directly on his head, sending the samurai digimon flying. Hitting a tree, Musyamon was sent through it, causing Masaru to start celebrating.

"You see that, Agumon? This is why these lightweights bore me. They have all this talk about killing, and then I take them out with one punch."

"Aniki..." responded Agumon pointing to where Musyamon had been.

Turning around, Masaru saw that the samurai digimon was not out yet; he actually looked angry and serious now.

"You think you're funny, don't you?"

"Enough with the small talk. Came at me!"

"Prepare to die!" Musyamon shouted, charging in.

Once again Musyamon was found with Masaru's fist connecting to his head. Being knocked out again, Musyamon just looked at Masaru with detestation.

"So you wanna go for a third round?" asked Masaru.

"Shut up!"

"You're not even worth my time! Come one, Agumon. We've wasted enough time with these guys. We need to find the digivice before sundown." Turning his back on Musyamon Masaru walked towards Agumon, leaving himself opened once again.

"Baby flame!"

Turing around, Masaru saw that Musyamon had attempted to attack him. Luckily for him, Agumon had struck him before he was able to land the attack.

"Attacking someone when his back is turned, that is very cowardly." Masaru looked displeased with the digimon. Picking him up, he threw him next to Kougamon and Igamon. "Now, what should I do with you three cowards?"

To Masaru and Agumon's surprised the three digimon got on their knees and began begging.

"Please, don't hurt us!"

"Yeah, if we had known who you were we would not have attacked."

"If you must hurt somebody then punish me," said Musyamon. "It was my order, so don't punish them for my insolence."

"Of course I'm going to hurt you!" Masaru responded. "What you three did is nothing short of cowardly. I am a real man; I never fight somebody whose back is..."

"No! Please don't scold us!" begged Musyamon.

"We do not wish to bring disgrace on us," continued Igamon.

Kougamon also interrupted. "Yeah! We can't afford to have our reputation destroyed."

Masaru and Agumon did not know what to do or how to respond, as evident by the expression on their faces. Not sure of himself both Masaru and Agumon decided it would be best to just leave, and just pretend that their little encounter never happened. Attempting to leave they were soon stopped by the three digimon.

"Please," said a teary eyed Musyamon, "don't tell anyone we fight in such a cowardly fashion. People just don't understand that a ninja has to do things in stealth, it's just out style."

"Let go of me," said Masaru.

"But if we let you go..." began Kougamon.

"...You'll just tell everyone you beat us with a single punch," finished Igamon.

"Don't worry," Masaru said, "I don't go around telling people I beat a bunch of ninjas in training."

"Please!" Musyamon had now won Masaru's pity, something that occurred rarely. "We promise to do whatever you want that is within reason, if you don't tell everyone how easily you defeated us."

"Anything I say, huh. Come here, Agumon." Squatting next to Agumon, Masaru was about to tell his partner his plan. "I have an idea, Agumon. We have a whole forest to search and it will take us forever to look by ourselves. You thinking what I'm thinking?'

"Use those three to help us search?" Responded Agumon.

"Exactly. It might still take us a while seeing as we'll only be five, but we'll definitely find it a lot faster." Masaru got up and turned around to face the three digimon, who were now looking at the ground worshiping him. "Okay! You guys want to be useful to the great Masaru-sama? Then you will help me find what I seek!"

"We would kill a perfect level digimon for you, just as long as you don't tell everyone."

"Just what I like to hear! I need help trying to find something that fell out of my hands. The item is really small and colored orange. Our mission will be to find it before sundown, it that clear?"

"Yes sir!" the three of them responded.

Musyamon got up and approached Masaru. "If you will, sir, I think I can make this search go a lot faster."

"How so?" asked Masaru.

Musyamon put a two of his fingers in his mouth and began to whistle. Within a few seconds a small army of Igamon and Kougamon, divided about equally, surrounded the area they were standing in. "I'm certain that with all my troops searching the area we will find what you seek. Troops commence the search!"

"Yes sir!" came an uproar caused by all of them moving out.

Upon seeing all the ninja digimon helping them search, Agumon and Masaru were dumbstruck. Not only had they been surrounded, but, for whatever reason, Musyamon had refused to have all of them attack Masaru and Agumon.

"Aniki, do you think we should be worried?" asked a concerned Agumon.

"I don't think so, Agumon." Responded a confident Masaru.

"What makes you say that?"

"Though they used dirty tactics to try and win, we still defeated them. These guys, they care enough about their honor and reputation to not want it ruined by a single fight. If they were to win by having all of them attack at once, then there would be no honor in that. I know they didn't mean to attack us from behind, but I know for certain that they will not attack us."

"Well, Aniki, if that is what you believe then I will stick with it."

"Right! Now let's help these guys look."

"Right!"

* * *

Finding a path through the forest Takato and Guilmon felt relieved that they did not have to navigate through it with no guide. It was a quite path that, though looked like it was used constantly, seemed empty at the moment. However, the quite and tranquil forest was about to be interrupted.

"Takato, I'm hungry."

Takato knew his partner well. Over the years he had gotten use to the red dinosaur's ability to be hungry soon after a big meal. But this time was different. They had barely eaten in the morning, and that had been a couple of hours ago. Though he too was hungry, he knew he could suppress it.

But he was lying to himself. It was not that he could suppress it that was preventing him from complaining about having an empty stomach, but he was too worried about being stuck in another world to care about the state of his stomach. To make matters worst he still had not mastered the new ability to evolve, meaning an attack from a high level digimon could mean the end for them. But what struck Takato the worst was that Guilmon did not realize the predicament they were in, which explained why he was still worried about the small stuff. But Takato was okay with it after all, one of them needed to be optimistic. For all Takato knew, they might be stuck in the strange world for a while.

"Okay, Guilmon." Takato decided that if they were going to get out alive, Guilmon would have to be at full strength. If that meant going out of his way to making sure he stayed happy and full then so be it. "First sign of a fruit tree we'll stop to eat, and stock up while we're at it. Now where is the nearest fruit tree?"

"I'll look," responded Guilmon beginning to sniff out some sort of food. After about a few minutes of sniffing around he finally caught something. "I smell food, Takato."

"Great! Let's go and... Wait, Guilmon! Don't go running off like that." Catching up to his partner, the two ran towards the unidentified source of food. Continuing on their chase they soon found themselves leaving the set path and while this got Takato worried, he knew that it would in their best interest to get something to eat. "Are we almost there, Guilmon?"

"It's over that bush."

Reaching it, they were surprised to see three digimon attacking somebody. Two of the ones that were attacking were short, green, plan digimon with a flower growing on top of their heads. The one being attacked was about the same size as the other two and had the appearance of several rocks put together. The one attacking was a large insect like firefly looking digimon. "Guilmon, who are those digimon?"

"Those two are Alraumon," said Guilmon pointing to the green ones. "The one being attacked is Gotsumon, and I'm not to sure who the other one is."

"Let me check the digivice," Takato said taking it out. "Yanmamon, an insect data type digimon. Oh, and get this, he's an adult. We need to find a way to rescue that Gotsumon before those three digimon do something to him."

"Wait, Takato, they're telling him something."

Listening in, they were able to make out what they were saying.

"What exactly happened to Mercurimon?" asked Yanmamon.

"I'm telling you, I don't know who you're talking about. Please, I did nothing to you, let me go."

"Don't lie to us, Gotsumon! You were one of his most trusted servants, I'm sure you would know what exactly happened to Mercurimon."

"But I don't even know who Mercurimon is. You have to believe me."

"Quit lying to us!" Yanmamon had lost his patience. He turned to the two Alraumon and gave them an order. "You two, hold him over a cliff until he is willing to talk."

"Right."

Approaching the rock digimon, Takato knew that they had to go in now and save him, regardless if the odds were stacked against their favor. Getting out of their hiding place, both tamer and partner rushed in hoping to save Gotsumon.

"Hey!" screamed Takato. "Leave the poor guy alone."

"A human?" said a shocked Yanmamon. "Both of you forget about the stupid follower, we just found ourselves a price worth catching."

"Nemesis ivy," screamed out both of the Alraumon. Screaming out their arms, vines stretched out from their hands and attempted to entangle the two foreigners.

However, being the battle ready digimon that he was, Guilmon opened his mouth and shot out a fireball, managing to hit one of the Alraumon directly. Knocking it out, Guilmon was caught of guard when the other Alraumon managed to tangle him.

"Guilmon!" screamed Takato.

"Takato... Please, stay back." Seeing that his partner stayed behind, Guilmon dashed forward managing to take Alraumon along. Running faster, he stopped instantly causing the Alraumon to be sent flying forward. As the airborne digimon neared Guilmon, the red dinosaur ducked seconds before the airborne digimon hit him and kicked up just as Alraumon passed above him. The resulting action sent the plant digimon flying high, making him let go of Guilmon in the process. When he finally landed in the ground, it was obvious he was knocked out.

"Guilmon, behind you!" screamed Takato as the other Alraumon began attacking him. But it was to late. When Guilmon turned around, Alraumon managed to whip him across the face.

The attack barely hurt Guilmon, which put Alraumon in a compromising position. Shooting another fireball Guilmon landed the attack right in the face of Alraumon, throwing the plant digimon back. Seeing that Alraumon was still not down, Guilmon charged in as his claw began glowing. Before Alraumon even had a chance to stand up Guilmon struck the plant digimon right through the chest, causing the plant digimon to reform back into a digitama.

"Good job, Guilmon."

"But Takato, now I'm more hungry than before."

"Tell me, red one," began Yanmamon, "why is it that you side with the human?"

"Because Takato is my friend, silly."

"Well that's the dumbest reason ever. Tell me the real reason."

"Um, because he is my friend."

"Supposedly humans have the power to empower digimon. If you wish to leave here alive, the you will show me."

"Guilmon," interrupted Takato, "we don't need to prove anything to him."

"So those stories are just lies, then. Digimon who serve humans only do it out of enslavement."

Guilmon had heard enough. Charging in, he attempted to take Yanmamon by surprised. But before he reached the insect digimon, Yanmamon disappeared and appeared in back of Guilmon, leaving him right open for an attack. Using his claws, Yanmamon jabbed directly at Guilmon's chest just as the red digimon turned around. Though it was a direct hit, Guilmon was not down yet and was willing to continue fighting.

"Come on, red one," he began. "If you want to defeat me, you'll need more power then that. Use you partner to help you evolve."

Attempting to hit the insect digimon, Guilmon once again made his claws glow and struck where Yanmamon was. But the insect digimon was too fast, easily dodging the attack. Once again appearing in back of Guilmon Yanmamon attacked him in the back.

"Guilmon!" Takato attempted to run towards his fallen partner, only to have Yanmamon stop him in his tracks. "Get out of my way."

"Or what? You want to help him? Then make him evolve."

Takato looked behind the insect digimon and saw that Guilmon got up, barely. "Takato, do it."

"Okay. Digisoul charge!" Takato put his free hand on top of his digivice, putting all of his focus on summoning his digisoul. "Overdrive!"

He could clearly see his white aura surrounding his hand and knew that Guilmon would soon evolve. But sadly, there was no Dukemon to save the day; his attempt at evolving did not pay off.

"Pathetic," said Yanmamon. "You will both die now." As Yanmamon began laughing, Guilmon, Takato, and Yanmamon were surprised when Gotsumon tackled the insect digimon, knocking him down.

"Get out of here," Gotsumon said to Takato.

"So the coward decides to fight back," responded Yanmamon, now appearing madder than ever. "You will be the first to die!"

As quickly as sound travels, so did Yanmamon. But as Gotsumon stepped back not knowing what to do, he tripped on a small rock allowing him to dodge the charge accidentally. Flying above Yanmamon was surprised when Gotsumon was still alive.

"So you think you're pretty fast, do ya?" Once again, Yanmamon attempted to take down Gotsumon by charging in. But to his surprise, Guilmon stepped in front of him and shot out a fireball at Yanmamon. Due to his reckless charge, Yanmamon could do nothing to dodge it and took the attack head on. But he still kept charging. When both digimon realized that that he was still going to attack them, they both jumped out of the way avoiding the attack.

"Do you think we can take him?" asked Gotsumon.

"Yeah!" said an enthusiastic Guilmon. "Let's go."

As both stood up, they charged at the adult digimon without much strategy in mind. Of course, their actions brought amusement to Yanmamon.

"You two must have a death wish." Traveling fast, Yanmamon began attacking them from all directions. Attacking Guilmon first he first struck him from the right, then the left, then from above, and from every side he left open. Once Guilmon regained his composure, Yanmamon moved over to Gotsumon and attacked him in a similar fashion. When either one appeared to be ready for a counter attack, Yanmamon switched to the other, thus avoiding injury. "You cannot win."

At the moment, Yanmamon seemed unstoppable. Not only was he faster than them, but he was a level higher. But Guilmon knew that Yanmamon had to be defeated, regardless of the odds. Looking to his right, he saw that Gotsumon was worn out and would probably not be fighting anymore. Knowing he would be fighting alone Guilmon charged in recklessly, hoping to end the fight immediately.

"You are to slow," screamed Yanmamon. Rather than waiting for his opponent, Yanmamon dashed towards Guilmon and began attacking him using the same pattern.

With every blow he received Guilmon felt his energy being sapped away. When the exhaustion finally hit him Guilmon feel to the ground, but not before Yanmamon delivered a few more blows.

"No, Guilmon!" Attempting to reach his digimon Takato ran to where his partner was lying. But Yanmamon had other plans for the boy. Deciding that it was the human's turn next the insect digimon was about to go after him only to find that there was something holding his leg, preventing him from moving.

"Huh, what? Gotsumon? What do you think you're doing?" Yanmamon was taken by surprised.

"I'm not going to just stay there while you kill them," said Gotsumon.

"Then you shall die first!" With that, Yanmamon flew towards Gotsumon and tackled him. Knocking Gotsumon down Yanmamon flew up and prepared to dive down.

Takato knew he had to do something. But as he ran towards Gotsumon Yanmamon, seeing him trying to intervene, went after Takato rather than Gotsumon. When Takato saw that Yanmamon was going after him his body froze leaving, him open for his attack. However, Gotsumon was close enough that he was able to push Takato out of the way, putting the rock digimon in the pathway of Yanmamon.

"Gotsumon!" screamed Takato realizing that a strange digimon was about to die for him. Before Yanmamon struck him, Gotsumon's body began glowing causing Takato to shield his eyes. Before the light faded, Yanmamon collided with Gotsumon, but was sent back instead.

"What's happening?" asked Yanmamon. When the light cleared, Gotsumon appeared, only he was in a different color. Rather than being a gray color like a rock, his body tone was now a very light blue mixed with white.

Gotsumon looked down at his body and looked quite surprise with what had happened. "What happened to me!?" he shouted.

Wanting to make sure that this was an evolution, Takato took out his digivice to see. "Icemon, adult level data digimon. Wait, adult level? Icemon!" Takato called out to the newly evolved Gotsumon.

"Icemon?" he responded not knowing he had evolved.

"You can take him, you're both the same level.

"But... I don't feel different."

Yanmamon, knowing he would not have it as easy, decided he would kill him off now. "You think you can win just because you evolved? You will die now!"

Watching Yanmamon charge in, Icemon felt energy gathering around his arms. Before Yanmamon reached, Icemon extended his arms out and fired his attack. "Ice ball bomb!" As a large ice ball left his hands, Yanmamon meet head on with it causing his whole body to be incased in ice. Crashing hard on the floor, the ice surrounding his body cracked causing the rest of Yanmamon's body to be reformatted into data. Eventually all the broken pieces of data turned into Yanmamon's digitama.

"Guilmon!" Takato wasted no time running to his partner realizing that they had won the fight. "Guilmon, you okay?"

Hearing his partner's voice, Guilmon managed to open his eyes. "Takato... I told you I was hungry."

"You're okay." Takato was pleased that he suffered no serious injury. Remembering about Gotsumon, he decided to thank him. "Funny, we came here trying to save you and you were the one who ended up saving us."

"But if it wasn't for you," responded Icemon, "they would have thrown me off the cliff. By the way, you wouldn't happen to know what happened to me, would you?"

Takato was shocked with the question. "I think you evolved."

"Really!? Ha! I've been waiting for this to happen, though I kind of wished my form would have changed like Agumon's. Speaking of which, did Masaru and Agumon give you the digivice?"

"Masaru?" Takato was confused. "Are there other humans in the digital world?"

"Just Masaru, though it will be hard finding him. You see, while he is a great fighter, he has a tendency to go where trouble is brewing. I noticed that you were not able to evolve, though."

"Yeah. So far, we've only done it once since we got here. We need to find a way to control it unless we want what happened here to happen again."

"Then you should go find Masaru, he is probably the most knowledgeable about using digisoul."

"Digisoul? That is what I was able to summon when Guilmon evolved. I wonder if this Masaru can help me. You wouldn't happen to know where he is at, would you."

"I'm sorry, but no. I can accompany you, if you want. It has been a while since I talked to him and it would be nice to see Agumon again."

"That'd be great. But, uh, you wouldn't happen to have some food on you? Guilmon can get kind of hungry."

* * *

"I think we can swim across it, V-mon."

Daisuke was feeling rather optimistic. In front of them was a raging river that was blocking them from going further. It was rather wide for a river and, in V-mon's opinion, seemed more like a lake. But nature, or in this case the digital world, was not going to stop the maroon haired boy stopping there.

"We could just turn around, Daisuke."

"But we have traveled so far. That would mean we would be getting further and further from our goal."

"But you just picked a random direction and began walking that way."

"So?"

"So? Why would you want to continue going in a direction where we have no idea it leads to somewhere?"

"Because the river is blocking it."

V-mon was astounded by his partner's logic. "Huh?"

"This world doesn't quite feel like the digital world, right?"

"Right."

"And many of the trees, water, and plants look all pixilated, right?"

V-mon nodded his head. "Uh-huh."

"Now what kind of places has all that plus digital monsters that we might have to fight?"

V-mon knew the answer, but he didn't want to quite answer it. Knowing Daisuke would not continue in his explanation, he decided to answer. "A video game?"

"Exactly! Though an RPG video game to be more precise."

"So what does this have to do with us going through the river?"

"Well, in every one of those games the next destination is always blocked by some sort of river or rock. I'm sure that there is something across it."

V-mon knew that they were not going to end up anywhere by crossing the river, but since he was bored of traveling around doing nothing he decided it would be best to follow through with Daisuke's plan. "Okay, I'm in."

"Yeah! Now, how do we cross?" As the two looked around, they knew they would need a ferry. Looking at the trees Daisuke had a plan. "Let's build a raft!"  
"Do you know how?"

"Of course I do. Remember that time we saved Gomamon from the Kaiser? That was my idea."

"But what about rope? We are going to need it to keep the wood together."

"We'll use vines. See, V-mon, we can do this."

"Okay." Looking at a tree, V-mon ran forward with increasing velocity. "V-mon head!" Colliding head first with the three, to Daisuke and V-mon's surprise, V-mon managed to break the tree with one blow.

"Wow! V-mon, you got strong."

"I don't think it was me, but I think the tree was fake."

"So is everything in this world."

"But this appeared to be more of a switch than anything else."

"Well a switch needs to activate something, so what does this one do?"

V-mon brought Daisuke to his level and pointed towards the river. "That."

From the river, there was now a small boat with someone guiding it to where they were. Though the water appeared to be able to push rocks across quite easily, the boat was having an easy time traveling through the waves. When it finally reached them Daisuke and V-mon were able to make out the ferryman. He was dressed as a wizard that was mostly colored light blue and covered his mouth with part of his cape.

"Daisuke that's Sorcerymon, and adult digimon who is a counterpart to Wizarmon."

"Wizarmon, eh. Well, let's see if we can hitch a ride. Hey, buddy, do you think we can get a ride across to the village?" The Sorcerymon did not respond. Instead, he extended his hand out to them, palm open. "Thanks!" Daisuke said, as he was about to get on.

However, Sorcerymon stopped him before he could get on. "Pay."

"This isn't for free?" Asked Daisuke.

"No. Pay."

Daisuke realized that he had left his wallet in his locker along with his school uniform. Since that was where he kept his money, Daisuke had nothing on him. "How about we start a tab?"

"No ride."

"Wait." As Sorcerymon was about to leave he stopped when he saw somebody approaching. As a small turtle-like digimon approached, the newcomer threw a small circular object to Daisuke and V-mon, and handed one to Sorcerymon. Inspecting what he received, Sorcerymon let the small digimon pass and once again extended his open hand to Daisuke and V-mon. Once they realized what had happened, they gave the circular objects to Sorcerymon and entered the boat.

"Thanks for the bail," Daisuke said as he sat across the small digimon. Upon closer inspecting, Daisuke saw that he did not look like a turtle but instead bore a resemblance to a computer mouse. "So what's you name?" When Daisuke attempted to talk to him, the computer mouse digimon retreated into his shell, hiding his head. "What did I do wrong?"

"It's not your fault, he is just shy. And his name is Kamemon," answered Sorcerymon.

"Is that so."

The ride across the river was quite a tranquil one, considering that the water looked like it was about to knock them out at any second. After several minutes of traveling, they reached the other side and discover that there was a village.

"Wow!" said both Daisuke and V-mon in amazement.

They had every reason to be amazed at what they saw. The village appeared to be carved into the trees themselves, which were a bright green. Other parts of the village were carved into the cliffs that all seem to have the same height. The sky above was cleared and the surrounding water was quite calm compare to how it was not too far from there. There were several waterfalls that seemed to come from nowhere and appeared to somehow supply themselves with an unlimited amount of water.

"And you didn't believe me about there being something across the river," said Daisuke to V-mon. As they were exploring the city, Daisuke could not help but feel like every digimon's eyes were on him. It was not bothering him too much, but he could not help but feel a bit bothered by it. "I wonder why they are staring at us like that?"

"Hey, where did Kamemon go?" asked V-mon.

Looking down, Daisuke saw that Kamemon was gone. "Hey, Kamemon, where did you go?" Not seeing him among the crowd, whom were now staring at him more, Daisuke decided that he would have to look for him. "Hey, have you seen a small turtle computer mouse looking digimon around?" asked Daisuke to a nearby Snimon. Without answering, the digimon flew away leaving Daisuke looking even more confused. "Hey! Comeback."

"Maybe you came on too strong, Daisuke."

Walking to another nearby digimon, a similar reaction occurred, with the digimon running away. Daisuke tried this many times, and received the same response he did the first time. "Hey, what's wrong with you people? Can a guy get some help trying to find someone?" The rest of the surrounding digimon looked scared of Daisuke. "There is no need to be scared of me," he said taking out his digivice, "I have a digivice."

What happened next was beyond Daisuke and V-mon's predictions. All of the surrounding digimon got up and stampeded out of there. But as they left two Knightmon entered the area, though several times much larger than they were used to.

"You are to stop disrupting the peace and tranquility of De tranquillitate animi," said one of the Knightmon. "You are to be taken to the coliseum for your behavior."

"What, for trying to find somebody?

"You are to be taken in for imprisoning a digimon for your personal use and disrupting the public."

"What hell? For disrupting the public? Damn! V-mon, run."

Just like Daisuke commanded, V-mon ran as he was told. They had no trouble avoiding the Knightmon, since their large size prevented them from maneuvering through the town.

"Daisuke, you need to be careful with what you say?"

"But that would be no fun. Where do we go now? Are we in an island or is one side surrounded by water only?"

"Only one way to find out, Daisuke." They decided to run to the other side from where they were. Running through the village, which they guessed was named De tranquillitate animi, they noticed just how long it was. They had been running for several minutes when they saw what they thought was the coliseum.

Rather than being a building like they had in Rome, it was instead more like a bowl, due to it being built below ground. The main entrances were at ground level, but the seats and arena were below. It appeared to be directly carved into the stone it was built on, more likely made without adding something that had never been there. The seats seemed to be part of the ground, though decorated to distinguish them from the pathway. If they had not known that it was there they were suppose to be kept prisoner, they would have actually taken the time to take a detailed tour.

"Let's get out of here, V-mon."

"Right."

Running away from the coliseum, Daisuke knew that he had to think of a plan. He did not know if they were in an island, which would make escape hard as they had no means to pay Sorcerymon. The only thing that he was hoping for was that at least one area was connected to the mainland. He did not know how long he had been running for, but after what seemed like another grueling practice of soccer, he made it to the other side. This side was also surrounded by water.

"Damn it! Do you still have energy, V-mon?"

"Yes."

"Then lets go."

Continuing to run, V-mon had to make sure just how far ahead Daisuke was thinking. "Daisuke, what if we are surrounded by water? Are we just going to hide here or something?"

"If we are on an island, then we'll just beat up Sorcerymon for his ferry. You up for it?"

"Yeah." Responded V-mon, trying to sound reassuring.

They had been running through the edge of what they hoped was not an island. Running, they were losing hope in it having a connection to the mainland. Eventually, though soccer had given Daisuke great endurance, running through and around the city had caused his body to give up on him. When exhaustion hit him completely, he fell to the ground knowing that he was done for.

"Sorry, V-mon. You're going to have to go without me."

V-mon knew that his partner meant well, but he was crazy if he thought he was going to leave him there for dead. "Nonsense, Daisuke. I'll swim across the river while carrying you before I let you die here."

"That's nice, V-mon, but we have to be realistic about this. Leave and go find help."

"But..."

"Trust me. It's the only way."

It was wrong for one of the chosen digimon to leave their human partner like that, regardless if they ordered it or nor. It went against their being; it went against who they were. But he did have a point. V-mon knew that he would not be able to carry Daisuke without both of them getting caught.

"I promise Daisuke, that you will be alright."

Seeing the Knightmon approaching V-mon ran away, leaving his partner behind. When the Knightmon reached Daisuke he did not even put up a fight, as he was too tired. They just carried him away, as V-mon ran away.

* * *

Signed: The Two-One-Five

Word Count: 6807

July 17, 2008 1:14 am PT

**AN: **After eight chapters, the first aspect of the crossover is introduced. I understand that people want Daisuke and Takato to already meet with the Savers cast, but then again so do I. However, reading over some of the previous chapter, I realized that there were not enough elements to consider this story a crossover at the moment. These elements will not end here, though. I have too much plan for them to just meet a few of the supporting characters. Rest assured that the only reason that it is taking a while because I have a nasty habit of taking a while to introduce certain elements.

On a similar note, I also noticed that I'm nit doing the best job working with all the characters. I have Daisuke and V-mon, Takato Guilmon, Masaru and Agumon, the Royal Knights, Touma, and the rest of the cast still in Japan. So of certain chapters feel like they lack some of the characters, then I apologize in advance, as meshing a whole cast together is one of my many weaknesses as a writer.

As always, reviews appreciated.


	9. Escape

"Sir Alphamon! It's ready." As Duftmon spoke those words the rest of the knights stopped their bickering. Knowing that he was the center of attention he pulled out a metal, round object and pushed a red button towards the center. Letting it drop to the floor the object began floating as it once again rose and reached eye level.

"How exactly does it work?" Asked AlforceV-dramon.

"It would take me too long to explain the mechanics, but if you wish to know how it is used, let me explain. The computer the humans had was full of data on certain species of Digimon, most notably the ones they deemed a threat. Of course the computer only had data on the digimon who made themselves visible, thus there are several missing profiles. However, they did have the one we're looking for, the one called OuRyuumon."

"So he does exist in this world." Everyone turned to Alphamon as he spoke. "Go on."

"As I was saying," continued Duftmon, "they had extensive data on him, including where he is more then likely to be at. But that is not the pièce de résistance, far from it. The computer actually had small pieces of their make-up, thus allowing us to find him quite easily. This thing," he pointed to the floating object, "will follow his trace. We should be able to find him before the day is gone."

Alphamon looked at Duftmon with an apathetic look. "You have outdone yourself, Duftmon."

"Thank you, sir." Duftmon respectively bowed.

Acknowledging Duftmon's gesture Alphamon turned to AlforceV-dramon. "You will be in charge of leading this one."

AlforceV-dramon seemed somewhat surprised. "But sir, you are in no condition for combat. If you were to be attack..."

"Relax," Alphamon responded. "I believe that two should be enough to handle him. I am just sending you because I know you will not let me down. The question now is who to send along side you? Duftmon, since you created the machine, perhaps it would be best for you to go as well."

"Pardon my rudeness, sir." Duftmon responded. "But I feel that my services will not be all that important in the search."

Alphamon saw right through him. "I am guessing that there is something you would rather be doing than accompanying him. Am I correct to assume this?"

"It figures that the great Alphamon, our supreme leader, would see right through my deception. Yes. After the incident with Sleipmon I feel obligated to fix what I wronged. I know that I am close in figuring out the proper way to make it work, but I will need some time."

"Duftmon, you know how I feel about your experiments and their results."

"I know, sir. It is just that I strongly believe that with this on our side the digimon will continue fighting. They all have the spirit to fight forever, but the body can only last so long before it gives out. I feel that this will give us the advantage in defeating them."

"But after what happened to Sleipmon..."

"It is but a mere price to pay, I assure you, sir. I will not use it on any of the other knights, just others standing around."

"I do not consider putting the life of my men a "mere price,' as you so boldly put it. Either way, others will get hurt."

"I assure you, sir, the only reason Sleipmon turned out the way he did was due to his injury. Had he been in perfect health when absorbing it he would have turned out fine." Alphamon remained silent. "I have never once let you down, Sir Alphamon. Even with this new strength the odds of winning the battle at home are still slim. All the remaining digimon have the spirit to fight on forever, but they lack the strength. Sir, I will allow them to push themselves until they die. I will give them that missing strength. They will never tire out! Our numbers will seemed infinite to the enemy; we will overcome them with our will spirit and our want to continue living."

"Enough!" Alphamon shouted. "While your intensions may be noble, and even just, to a certain degree, I cannot allow you to continue your experiments. If you must continue, then do so elsewhere. I will not have any unnecessary innocent blood on my hands."

Duftmon once again bowed with respect. "Thank you, sir." Leaving the area where the rest of the knights were at he made sure he was not heard. "I'll show you, Alphamon! I'll show you how I've truly outdone myself," he said softly.

Oblivious to what Duftmon had said Alphamon was still trying to find somebody to accompany AlforceV-dramon. Before he even said anything Dynasmon stepped up. "Allow me, sir, to accompany him on the mission." Though Dynasmon wanted to prove to Alphamon that he could control his anger, the main purpose in wanting to be part of the mission was, simply put, to test out the limits of his power, something he had not done since acquiring them.

"Dynasmon," Alphamon responded, "your valor and loyalty know no bounds. But, at the moment, I cannot be assured that your anger will be kept under control. I am sorry, but I have to say no."

Dynasmon wanted to rebuttal but he knew how it would look. Instead, he accepted his decline. "It is okay, sir, I understand."

Alphamon looked at the tallest of the lot. "Craniummon."

"Yes, sir!" he eagerly responded.

"We are not fully aware of the strength that OuRyuumon has, so perhaps it would be best to send out the unbreakable shield to fight. After all, you might even get a chance to use your new acquired strength."

"Understood, sir! Though I would have gone even if I did not have Avalon with me."

"Then I wish the both of you luck on this journey, but first, I need to speak with you." Alphamon pointed to AlforceV-dramon. All the remaining knights, excluding the one who was told to wait, left the area. When they were gone the two spoke freely.

"About the human that Dynasmon and Examon saw, I would figure that there might be others like him. Some of them might even be here after the attack on the real world."

"Should I proceeded to a kill on sight basis then, sir?" asked AlforceV-dramon.

"No. I do not think that it would be necessary. However, if they do attack I want you to observe their relationship with their digimon."

"Is there a reason for this, sir?"

"Just want to see where our world went wrong. That is all."

"Understood. However, is there another reason that you wanted to speak with me? The context of this conversation was not something that would qualify for my ears only."

"You are right. The reason I wanted to talk to you in private is that, during the battle we will have upon reaching home, there is a good chance I will not make it out alive, regardless of the power I posses."

"I have suspected as much, but what does this have to do with me?"

"Just in case, I want you to take charge."

"Me, sir? But why?"

"You are the one that I trust the most. All the others, while they have their merits, do not exhibit the kind of trustworthiness you portray."

"But I can only get them to listen while you are around. They know my weakness."

"But they respect you. Some may not show it, but it is there. I am sure that has some validation from them."

"They respect my power, nothing more. Wouldn't surprise me if I died at one of their hands."

"Perhaps. Perhaps not. But I would leave this group to you even if they had a personal grudge against you. Not that any of them would."

"Sir, truth be told, I do not feel comfortable leading them after you. After your accomplishments as leader I would simply be a footnote in history."

"A knight should never care about what other think about himself, he should only worry about doing what is right."

"...If you do not mind, sir, I think I would like to take my leave now."

"As you wish."

Kneeling before Alphamon, AlforceV-dramon walked out of the area, approached Craniummon, and flew out. Watching them both leave, Alphamon silently gave his best regards.

* * *

Feeling the floor shake below himself Touma opened his eyes. Looking around, it took him a while to realize that he was on his father's personal plane. However, what surprised him the most was the sight of his left arm in a cast.

"Huh? What happ... Oh, right. Now I remember." Thinking back, he recalled just what had happened at the lab. Dynasmon had beaten him to near death all because he wanted that disk. But, as he continued to search through his memories, he remembered how he had injured his sister. "Relena!" he shouted. "Relena! Where are you?"

Upon his voice being heard, Relena, Miss Haider, and his butler came running in. "Big brother, you're awake!" Without even waiting for Touma to respond Relena embraced her brother in a hug. "I was so worried when I found you unconscious, with blood all over your body." Touma could tell that she was trying her hardest to hold tears back. While he was happy to see that she was okay, and ignoring the pain she was causing from embracing his injured body, he could not help but noticed that one of her wrist was bandaged up.

"Relena, are you okay?" He said not trying to sound too worried.

"Yeah," she said in a soft tone, trying to hide her bandaged wrist.

"Your wrist? How badly is it?" he asked.

"It hurts," she said, holding her wrist with her other hand. "But it should heal if I do not use it."

Without asking, he reached for his younger sister's wrist and examined it himself. When it came to his sister's health, he had a habit of wanting to do everything himself. After examining it, he let go of her and looked around.

"May I ask where we have landed?" he asked.

Miss Haider stepped up. "If you recall, you wanted to have lunch here. Since the plane was already scheduled to come here, I felt I would try to keep my job by fulfilling what I am paid to do."

Attempting to stand up Touma found that it required more energy than he was use to. "Allow me to help you, master." Said his butler as he hoisted Touma up.

"Thank you," Touma said. Knowing that he was going to have trouble walking he wondered if he would be getting in the way more than being useful. But, knowing what had happened, he decided to ignore those thoughts and do what he had to do. "Get the car ready."

"Big brother, where are you planning on going?"

"Back to work."

* * *

"I'm sorry, Takato, but I couldn't fend them off?" Gotsumon was disappointed in his inability to defend his newly found friends. Though he had managed to defeat Yanmamon by evolving to Icemon, soon after that event, they had been ambushed by a group of Sorcerymon. Since they had just finished a tough fight, and he had not learned what exactly he did to evolve, they did not stand a chance against five adult level digimon.

"It's okay, Gotsumon," Responded Takato. "If me and Guilmon had managed to learn how to control our digisoul then this whole thing could have been avoided."

At the moment the three of them, Takato, Guilmon, and Gotsumon, were tied up and being dragged by a few Sorcerymon. Not sure where they were heading towards Takato attempted to find out where they were heading. "Excuse me, but where exactly are we heading?" They did not respond. As they continued walking they eventually stopped when they reached a lake that seemed to go on forever. However, what caught Takato's attention more than anything was that the lake had a strong current, making it appeared to be more of a raging river than anything else.

Arriving at the riverbank the Sorcerymon stood there, motionless, staring out towards the river. Takato, not wanting to talk to the Sorcerymon, decided to see if Gotsumon knew where they might be. "Hey, Gotsumon." Takato said.

"Yeah?" Responded Gotsumon.

"Where are they taking us?" He asked.

"Well I've heard rumors that there is suppose to be some sort of paradise across the river, but since no one can actually confirm it, it's a mystery."

"But if there is suppose to be a paradise out there, then why are they dragging us over there while we are tied up?"

"I don't know. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, it is not your fault."

As they continued to wait, they saw a small boat approaching, being driven by another Sorcerymon. As it reached them on the land the Sorcerymon dragging Takato pushed him near the boat. But, before he even entered, the Sorcerymon on the boat stretched out his arms with an open palm. Before Takato could say anything the digimon dragging him put his hands into his pockets and took out three coins labeled '500.' As the Sorcerymon on the boat took the coins he let Takato and his company enter, though unaccompanied by the other Sorcerymon.

"So they charge us for a ferry that takes us to a prison?" Takato was dumbstruck by this discovery. "And they still haven't told us what we did wrong!" As the boat departed Takato was surprised that they were not feeling the effects of the water. In fact, it was rather calm. But the uneasiness he was feeling would soon be confirmed, as he got closer to the island.

* * *

"Get in there!" As he was tossed inside a cell Daisuke did not get a chance to see who it was that put him. Standing up he saw that the cell was full of other Digimon who were just waiting.

"So what are you in here for?" Asked Daisuke to a nearby Ogremon.

The Ogremon, who was currently lying down with his eyes closes, answered. "They said I had no damn permission to be here. But if this place were a safe heaven, as they say, then they would allow all of us to come here without having some dumb permission! I mean, I paid the damn toll to cross the river. So you?"

"Paid the toll." Answered Daisuke. "Then some Knightmon came and got me. Next thing I know I'm here. Guess we all have the same story, eh?"

"You said it, bub." As the Ogremon got he up he got his first look at Daisuke. Upon seeing him the Ogremon let out a scream that got the attention of many of the Digimon inside the cell, including some of the guards outside.

"Hey!" Said Daisuke. "I may not be good looking but you're not one to judge."

"You're... You're one of them humans!"

"Oh! So it's going to be one of those conversations again, huh?" Frankly, Daisuke was getting tired about people making a big deal about him being a human. "I'll just go over there, and sit down by that sleeping, hungry-looking Monochromon." But before he had a chance to walk away he was grabbed by Ogremon and dragged close to him.

"If you are a human then that must mean you work for DATS. And if you work for DATS then that must mean you have a digimon capable of evolving at any time. Am I right?"

With how Ogremon had dragged Daisuke close to his body, he could not help but feel a bit uncomfortable with there being little distance between their bodies. But, since he was not attempting to kill him due to some prejudice, he decided to go with it. "Well to answer your questions, I do have a digimon but he ran away due to me needing somebody on the outside, don't know what DATS is, and, at the moment, I seem to be able to get my digimon to reach ultimate."

"Let me see it!" he demanded.

"Um, see what?"

"Your digivice. You know, that little gizmo thing that allows you to evolve your partner."

"Oh, that." The digivice was still being held in his hand. Since he did not think that Ogremon would kill him Daisuke decided to show it to him. "I got that sometime before arriving here. I've only used it once before, though."

"This is the same one that belongs to DATS. How can you have something that belongs to DATS without working for DATS? I don' like liars... Say, what was your name again?"

"Daisuke. Motomiya Daisuke. And, like I said earlier, I got that digivice before I came here. I've never heard of DATS before. Sorry."

"Guess I got a little carried away there, huh?" Ogremon handed him back his digivice. "There is a rumor going around that Anubimon wants to capture and kill all DATS members. But before that, he wants make them answer to what they did. Since they're human you obviously got typecast into a member of DATS."

"I see." Turning on his digivice Daisuke looked up Anubimon hoping to find information on him. "A vaccine ultimate digimon. Is he the one in charge of this village?"

"Yep. They say he built this paradise to escape the persecution of humans, but the thing is that many of the digimon come here to escape harm from other digimon. From what I understand, Anubimon refuses to acknowledge this and continues to blame the humans, even though it's been years since then."

"Years since when?" Daisuke asked.

"Several years ago humans attacked the digital world. Many digimon died during that invasion and I'm not just talking about being reverted back into digitamas. No, they were permanently deleted, bit the big one! Some years after that they came back again, even went as far as killing Mercurimon, plus several others. When the Royal Knights went to invade the real world they formed a truce, but Yggdrasil was never seen again."

"There was a digimon who told me something about that, though he instead just attacked me." Daisuke said. "But who exactly is Yggdrasil? I've heard his name before."

"Yggdrasil is, in simple terms, the God of the digital world. After the battle he was never seen again. Since it was his word that kept the world in order his disappearance caused an abrupt disturbance. Funny, he never did talk, or was involved, yet his disappearance was something that shook the world."

Daisuke was curious as to what had happened to this world to lead it down this current path. However, he wanted to escape from the prison but he knew his odds were slim, as he was stuck on an island. But, from how Ogremon talked about the rest of the world, he was not sure where it would be safer. But he had been summoned to help this world so he knew he had to be out there, fighting. "I have to get out of here, Ogremon."

"Ha! Even if you escape from here you're still stuck on this here island. Just hope you get called out to the coliseum and die a heroic death."

"The coliseum? Wait a minute, is this place directly under it?" He asked.

"Yeah. When it is quite down here you can actually hear as the bodies fall to the floor for the final time. Though you only get to go to the coliseum if you're lucky. Heck, I've been here a while and not once have they given me a second look. Bunch of cowards, if you ask me!"

"So how does one go about being part of it?"

"Who knows? Though since you may or may not be a DATS agent you might soon be next. And speak of the devil."

Turning around Daisuke saw a Pidmon, a digimon who resembled Angemon, was approaching. The only difference between the two was the amount of wings and the color. "Your presence is needed." Without waiting for Daisuke to respond Pidmon pushed Daisuke and lead him outside. Before he left for a known fate he could hear Ogremon cheering him on.

"Give 'em hell, kid! Give 'em hell!"

* * *

As Duftmon flew above a large, green forest he knew that, if he wanted to cover as much ground to find specimens, he would have to walk through the forest, rather than fly easily above. Landing on the soft ground he shrank back down to a human size, as to not attract too much attention, and examined the forest.

_I cannot hover through this and cover as much ground as I want._ He saw that the forest was far too big to walk across. _Guess we will have to do this my way._

"Duftmon, mode change to... Duftmon Leopard Mode." In Duftmon's place now stood a four-legged, black leopard. Though his appearance was similar to his previous form his wings, that were, at one point, on his shoulders, were now located on the side of his legs. Closing his eyes he was able to feel the forest and knew where he had to go. Taking one second to prepare himself he soon dashed forward at an incredible speed, easily dodging any trees that appeared before him.

_Heh. I am able to easily feel the incoming tress before I even see them. Navigating through this forest shall be easy. Now all that is left to do is to find are those digimon in the distance. I just hope that they are not a disappointment._ Continuing to run through the forest he noticed that some areas of it were destroyed, as if a battle had occurred in isolated areas. However, looking out further, he saw what appeared to be a well-hidden fortress ahead of him. _Well hidden, in deed, but not for my eyes. Something that well hidden is bound to be hiding something._

Running towards it he eventually made it to an open meadow. Upon entering he felt something moving and, listening to his senses, he jumped out of the way. His gut was right because, as he looked to where the attack landed, he saw a large arm made of wood. Looking to see whom the attacker was he saw that it was Jureimon.

"This is a private meadow that belongs to me," he said, boldly. "I suggest that you leave here."

Duftmon looked at him, with amusement. "And who died and made you in charge, if you don't mind me asking."

Jureimon took offense to those words. "Mercurimon left me in charge of here along time ago. His death, however, does not relieve me of this position."

"Oh! A dead friend." Duftmon sounded amused by that. "Tell me, woody, who is it that lives up there, trying to be enclosed from the world?"

"That would be Mercurimon's old castle, not that you have any business going there."

"First you tell me to leave here and then you prevent me from going up there. I need to have some fun around here."

"You have no respect for those you kill, don't you?"

"Who? Me? Do you insult me by calling me a emotionless bastard."

"Why have you taken the place of the defenders of this world?"

"So it appears my little charade did not fool you. I hope you do realize that now you have to die."

"I've survived through worst." Said Jureimon, preparing himself for battle.

* * *

Inspecting the coliseum V-mon saw that the only way he was going inside, short of being captured, was to power his way through the guards. As he continued to try and find a way in he saw that several of the digimon from the island were assembling inside the coliseum. Continuing to watch he saw a Digimon who might be able to help him out, Kamemon.

V-mon ran towards the digimon that had helped them earlier, hoping to figure out what was going on. "Kamemon, where were you at?" he asked. Rather than responding Kamemon just pointed towards a winged figure in a balcony above the coliseum. "Who's that?"

"That's Anubimon, and he is in charge of this place." V-mon was amazed by Anubimon's appearance. The figure that stood in front of him was an impressive dog-like, human sized figure with magnificent wings on his back. Judging from what had happened earlier V-mon knew that the odds of Anubimon being a benevolent leader were slim. "Your friend's fate will be decided by him."

With the coliseum full Anubimon finally spoke. "Citizens of De tranquillitate animi! As many of you know, there was a human who found our village today. Fortunately the Knightmon who police this city captured him. Though his threat will soon be ending, this human had the smarts, intelligence, and cunning to figure out the clues in finding this village. Truly, we are dealing with some sort of genius detective."

"Is he talking about Daisuke?" Asked V-mon.

"He must pay for the crime his people have committed!" Continued Anubimon. "Let him face the punishment of this coliseum!" As he finished talking the audience screamed with excitement.

Beneath the coliseum Daisuke was walking to the battlefield, still being dragged by the Pidmon. He was not tied, or shackled up, but he knew perfectly well that if he attempted escape Pidmon would apprehend him soon after. But what was making him worry most was the sound of the crow above him, as their screams were causing the ground to shake a little.

"Say, don't I get some sort of last request?" Pidmon just ignored him. "Not even a last meal?" Seeing sunlight coming in trough a door ahead of him he knew that he was almost there. But before he reached the exit he saw something that surprised him; another human. Being dragged by another Pidmon, he was walking in the opposite direction he was. "Hey!" He screamed. But before he could even see if he responded Pidmon pushed him, signaling him to continue moving.

Finally reaching the coliseum Daisuke was amazed at how many digimon there were. For some reason, the battlefield looked much bigger from this point of view. From his perspective it probably extended about two football fields put right next to each other.

"Behold! The one who wishes you harm will be no more!" Said Anubimon. As soon as he stopped talking the digimon in the coliseum began cheering for Daisuke's death. "However, I have a surprised for you all. Though I only promised you one, we have, as of now, two members of DATS captured. Now bring out the other one!"  
Turning around Daisuke saw that the same boy that he had seen earlier. As Takato continued to walk inward, Daisuke thought that, if they worked together, they might have a chance to escape. But without the help of their digimon their chances were slim. "Hey!" As Daisue attempted to gain his attention Anubimon stopped him in his tracks.

"Behold! Their slaves!" On that order, a platform rose across from the balcony where Anubimon was. On that balcony were Guilmon and Gotsumon, tied up.

"Guilmon!" Takato screamed.

But Anubimon was not going to give them an opportunity to even discuss a plan. "Now, release Callismon!" Hearing the sound of gears turning a section of the floor began opening. Something was coming up, and, judging from the noise and size of the hole, it was something big. Soon a large, purple, bear-like digimon came out. Equipped with a three-barrel gun on his right arm Callismon's figure shadowed the battlefield.

"Callismon?" Stuttering his speech, Daisuke pulled out his digivice to get information on the new digimon. "What? Grizzmon? But how can the digivice have wrong readings?"

Before his question could even be answered Callismon aimed his barrel gun in Daisuke's direction and fired a few bullets. Barely dodging them Daisuke made an attempt to try and get Takato to focus on getting out of there.

"Somebody, stop them." Shouted Anubimon pointing towards the platform where Guilmon and Gotsumon were. Looking up Daisuke and Takato saw that untying them at the moment were V-mon and Kamemon. As they were freed the four digimon walked towards the edge and jumped into the coliseum.

"Guilmon!"

"V-mon!"

As both humans were glad to be reunited with their partners, Gotsumon killed the moment. "Um, guys, Callismon is still here."

Seeing Callismon about to fire on them the four of them found enough time to dodge the bullets. With V-mon by his side, and his digivice at hand, Daisuke found the confidence to stand up to both ultimate level digimon. He pointed straight up to Anubimon. "Hey! You weird cross between a dog and bird, can't any of you people-hating digimon have some originality with your motives?"

"You think you're funny, don't you?" Anubimon looked angry at Daisuke's attitude.

"Not only are you some weird mixture," continued Daisuke, "but so is this whole damn village! You have a Greek style coliseum, your village has some sort of Latin name, buildings here are a rip-off of something from a jungle village, and this city's leader is something from Egyptian mythology. That is messed up!"  
"Callismon, destroy them!"

Hearing Callismon roar Daisuke was having second thoughts. Knowing what had caused Callismon's uproar Takato approached Daisuke."Do you think it wass wise to anger them more?"

Daisuke laughed at what the stranger said. "Relax, me and V-mon can take out this overgrown grizzly." Holding out his digivice his confidence returned. "Okay, V-mon, time to evolve!"

"Right!"

Daisuke placed his hand above his digivice. "Digisoul charge! Overdrive!" But, like what had happened to Takato earlier, he was not able to summon his digisoul. "Why aren't you working again?"

"My digisoul also stopped working after the first time I used it," responded Takato.

"How do you know this?" Asked Daisuke.

"I tried practicing a few times after the fight. Didn't you try to, also?"

"Um? I sort of figured it would work out when I needed it."

"Takato," screamed out Guilmon, "dodge!"

Seeing Callismon running towards them the six of them moved out of the way. But, due to Callismon's size, he continued running towards the wall on the opposite side. As the audience saw him coming they began moving out of the way. Seeing him fall into the stands, Daisuke noticed that he fell right above where the prison was. Continuing to see him struggle to get up, Daisuke noted that his struggling was damaging the stadium, and then he was barely able to make out the cages underneath being destroyed. Finally finding his balance Callismon stood up, only to have several digimon jump on top of him. Recognizing that they were the same digimon from the cells, Daisuke knew that they now had a chance to escape.

"Come on! Let's get out of here!"

"Hey kid!" Turning around Daisuke saw Ogremon attacking Callismon. "Thanks for breaking us out! Now get the hell out of here."

Climbing the stands the six escapees began their climb, reaching the top after a while. "Wait!" Daisuke ordered as he grabbed a rope. "We'll need this later." Running across the village Daisuke, with the experience of having been captured attempting escape, knew that they should run towards the ocean.

Takato tried to find out what Daisuke was planning. "Hey, um." Takato realized he had not even gotten a proper introduction from him. "What's our plan?"

"We steal a boat." Daisuke pointed towards a Sorcerymon on a ferry, about to depart. Tying the rope into a lasso he aimed it towards the Sorcerymon, threw it, and managed to tie him up on the first try. "Got him!" With the Sorcerymon tied up Daisuke pulled in the rope, thus dragging the digimon into the water. "Now get on."

As the six of them climbed aboard they began rowing, hoping to escape the island. However, once reaching the section with an actual current, their ferry began to shake uneasily.

"Wasn't this ride a lot smoother before?" asked Takato.

"I thought so, too." Responded Daisuke. But as they went further and further into the river their boat was being tossed among the small waves. Eventually their boat jumped due to the current and when it landed on the harsh river it broke, sending all six riders falling into the water. "Crap!" Daisuke yelled as the water dragged the six of them into the unknown.

* * *

Signed: The Two-One-Five

Word Count: 5417

August 27, 2008 3:09pm PT

What, what, in the butt? Over a month since I've last updated? That can't be good! Sorry about that, folks, but irrelevant IRL drama prevented me from getting into writing. For that, I apologize.

On a related, yet unrelated, note, I've made some unimportant formatting changes to the previous chapters. Nothing too big just did it to make it friendlier. That is all and, while waiting for the next chapter, I hope you review.


	10. Goggles

AN: "Hey, he said this story would be updated quickly. Let's kick his ass!" Yeah, about that... sorry. To find out why I took forever to write this look at the bottom.

Also, know that this story will not have Takato know about the Adventure/02 universe, as re-watching the series doesn't make direct references to the anime. Not to mention that he refers to himself as a Tamer instead of a chosen. So yeah.

* * *

Jureimon knew that there was no way he was going to win; that was a given. But here he was, facing of against one of the Royal Knights in a one-on-one fight. Correction: he was fighting against somebody who defeated one of the Royal Knights, which, somehow, made the situation much more frightening than it already was. Duftmon, still in his leopard mode, was just standing still, not caring what the situation meant; life and death seemed like a game to the knight. Then again, why should he? He was not, in any shape or form, in danger of anything. His opponent was a weakling; just another fool who thought they were doing the right thing.

_The right thing..._

With Duftmon still stuck in his train of thought Jureimon saw an open opportunity and stretched out his vines hoping to ensnare the imposter knight. But Duftmon was too fast. Since his guard was down the vines were able to get close to him but, still, he was able to feel them coming and jumped out of the way before they even had a chance to wrap him up. Charging in forward Duftmon saw that Jureimon had anticipated the action and already had an attack waiting. Attacking with his 'cherry bomb' attack Duftmon took the bombarded head on. However, the smoke the attack created now blinded the knight. But the attack was weak, and he was sure he knew Jureimon knew that. Instinctively, he jumped up.

Looking at where he was standing he saw that Jureimon slammed his vines where he was standing a moment ago. Again, to Duftmon's surprise, Jureimon anticipated the action and again attacked him in midair. As the cherry bombs, once again, hit their mark, the smoke again blinded Duftmon; his instincts were preparing him for what was coming. He just stayed there, letting gravity bring him down. But he could sense that Jureimon had once again sent out his vines. Feeling them coming he used his front paw to step on the edge of the vines that were lunging towards him, used them to jump up, dodged them, and landed on top of them. Gaining his balance Duftmon ran on top of vines, charging towards Jureimon.

Trying to drop Duftmon Jureimon began to wildly shake the vines. But as Duftmon jumped off them Jureimon managed to make contact with the knight and slammed the knight towards the ground. As he hit the ground the force from the attack managed to send Duftmon below the ground. Retracting his vines Jureimon just stood there, knowing that the battle was not over.

"Get up," said Jureimon. "No proud member of the Royal Knights, impersonating them or not, would go down so easily."

Hearing the comments Duftmon arose from the ground, looking as healthy as he was in the beginning. Out of nowhere the quadruped knight began chuckling maniacally. "You are such a character! You-You actually managed to entertain me. Look at me; I am actually exhausted. Well, not really. But you get what I mean, right?'

Jureimon was disgusted with the knight in front of him. "Do you take anything serious? You disrespected a great leader. Someone who sacrificed his lives for the sake of someone else."

"If he was such a great leader then why is he dead?"

"Show some respect, you imposter."

"Why should I? You think he's the only one who has ever sacrificed himself for someone else? Think he's the only one who has ever died for some greater good? You live too much of a sheltered life. You need to get out more, friend."

He had gotten to him. Jureimon launched out his cherry bomb attack. But Duftmon had anticipated this. He easily dodged the incoming attacks by moving left and anticipated Jureimon's plan to use his vines again. Maneuvering through the vines Duftmon made it through without getting hit and struck Jureimon with his claws. Hitting the mobile tree Duftmon pushed him back and knocked him down.

"Come on, now," Duftmon said. "You were doing so well not too log ago."

Jureimon wasted no time. Standing up Jureimon once again began attacking. Extending his vines he attempted to tangle up the knight, only to have Duftmon treat the situation like child plays. Switching his strategy to just trying to hit him by switching his actions to simple smashes and swings, Jureimon was becoming more reckless. Duftmon was enjoying himself. He was easily dodging the attacks and was not at all worried about being hit. And the grin on his face was further pushing the vegetation digimon to the edge. But after a while of simply dodging everything Jureimon was throwing at him Duftmon was becoming bored. Eventually, the holy knight digimon decided that he was done playing around with him. Rushing in he, once again, slashed at him sending the tree digimon back. As Jureimon was about to stand Duftmon decided to finish it now.

"Wolkenkratzer!" Out of nowhere several rocks rose from the earth and were sent directly towards Jureimon. As they hit him the rocks pierced Jureimon's tough exterior and caused enough damage that they brought the tree digimon down and, from his appearance, he appeared to be unable to stand. "And that is how the fight is won."

Jureimon looked up to see that Duftmon walked up to him and was now standing over him. His body, along with his voice, was not responding, and he knew that his life would soon be over. Continuing to watch over the victorious knight Jureimon saw that Duftmon had relinquished his leopard mode and switched back to his regular knight form. However, he was not looking at him with an intent to kill; no, he was just studying his body. He was inspecting the damage he had caused very closely; Duftmon's eyes were barely a few inches from Jureimon, inspecting him closely.

"You seem to barely be able to stand." Duftmon said, stepping back while doing so. "You appear-You appear to be just what I'm looking for. You are alive; yet you are unable to defend yourself, not that it surprises me one bit. But let's get philosophical for a moment. Can something be considered alive if it cannot defend itself in someway? I mean, even babies cry when they fell threatened and flowers can produce a certain scent to either kill or repel certain insects. But, now, look at you! You can- You cannot defend yourself with your strength and you can't scream for help. You are defenseless!

"I could burry you alive, six-feet under, and there would be nothing you could do about it. I could kick you and kick you and there'd be nothing you could do. I could decorate your fallen body with the flowers around you and dress you up all frilly like. You want know why I am allowed to do so?" Duftmon, once again, walked up to Jureimon and placed his face directly in front of his and whispered. "Because you cannot defend yourself. You have now become lower that...lower than the filth that crawls on the dirt. Your life in now so meaningless."

Steeping back Duftmon looked up at the sky. He seemed to be lost in thought, and actually seemed to have calmed down. But that idea was soon ended. As he lifted up his right hand a similar orb to the one he had used on Sleipmon materialized. "I do believe that the orb is perfected, at least in controlling some of you weaker level fools. Perhaps not strong enough to control a Royal Knight, but it should be more than enough to control someone like you." With the orb safely secured in his palms Duftmon thrust his arm forward, sending the orb deep into Jureimon.

Barely managing to get a weak shriek in, Jureimon's body was penetrated by the orb. As it slowly made its way into his body the vegetation digimon was losing control of himself. With the orb finally completely inside him Jureimon stood up and had a soulless, robotic look in his eyes. Now standing motionless Duftmon was about to see just how well Jureimon's obedience was. "Jureimon, destroy those trees."

Like he was told Jureimon extended his vines out and began destroying the trees he was ordered to. His strong and extendable vines easily cut through the trees and piled them on top of each other. When Jureimon was done destroying the surrounding area Duftmon approached him once again and reexamined his body. "Your body is past its limits by several fold, yet you-you are fighting at 100 percent! Still, should look into being able to control stronger digimon. Also noted, he appears to be able to move much more gracefully, especially when compared to Sleipmon's robotic gestures. Still, his movements are not as fluid as they were a while ago. Must make a note to work on that, eventually."

Turning to his right he looked at, what appeared to be, nothing. But as he signaled with a snap of his fingers it was revealed that there was something there under a cloaking device. A small, round, robotic, flying device, with a camera lens up front, had been following Duftmon. "You serve no more purpose to me, but, still, I should continue to watch you, just in case something interesting happens. As the flying device turned invisible Duftmon remembered one final thing. "Oh, and if anything comes your way... just kill it. Needs to have some sort of field test, anyway. Science isn't cheap, you know. Duftmon mode change to... Duftmon Leopard mode."

Once again in his faster form Duftmon ran off towards the fortress that he had seen earlier. When he left Jureimon just stood there, waiting to do his objective. The conscience of the digimon had since been destroyed.

* * *

Takato's body felt the pain as the water pushed him directly into a wall. Realizing that the water was pushing him towards it, and not actually moving him anymore, he extended his arm above the water and found something to grab onto. Lifting himself up above the water he realized he had a hard time getting up. Digging his nails into the ground he was pulling himself up using the remaining strength he had left. Finally getting a good enough grip he managed to pull himself up but had a hard time standing up now that he was safely on the ground. Attempting to stand up he found it quite difficult to stand up on two feet and soon found that he was coughing uncontrollably. Getting on his hands and knees his coughing was making him throw up some water that, while it was somewhat bothersome to his throat, was allowing him to breathe easier.

Just as Takato spat out most of the water that had gotten inside of him he saw that the other boy who helped him escape was just lifting himself out of the water. Much like Takato, Daisuke began coughing up water that he had inhaled while fighting the current. As the four digimon also came out of the water Takato saw that, unlike them, they did not have trouble breathing after they came out of the water.

_Huh,_ thought Takato, _I guess the water is real here. I need to tell Jen about this later. If I manage to get home, that is._

Still having a hard time trying to breath Takato decided that he should at least thank him for helping him get out of that place, not to mention making a proper introduction.

"Thanks for the help back there," he said as he approached Daisuke, who was still trying to catch his breath. "By the way, the name it Matsuda Takato. Oh, and this is my partner, Guilmon, and that's Gotsumon."

Takato attempted to signal for Guilmon to come over, but the red digimon was to busy noticing the other semi-conscious digimon. Daisuke, however, had finally managed to empty out his lungs of the water that he had inhaled during his swim.

"Man, I can't believe that I'm still tired from those sprints coach made us do." Daisuke had completely ignored Takato's introduction. "I really hate losing sometimes."

While thinking of him as a little bit rude Takato was more amazed that he was talking about sports after what had just happened. Not knowing what to say he just decided to put a hand on his shoulder and thank him.

Daisuke finally remembered what had happened. "Oh, sorry about that," he apologized profusely. "I almost forgot how I came to be here. I'm Daisuke Motomiya and that little blue guy there is V-mon, my partner and that little green turtle over there is Kamemon. He's not my partner, though. Um, Takato Matsuki, right?"

"Matsuda, actually," he corrected him. "So, at what point did your plan go wrong?"

"Plan?" Daisuke did not know what he was talking about.

"Yeah. Those were your digimon that helped free Guilmon and Gotsumon while you pretended to be captured, right?"

"Well, I don't know how much of that was planned seeing as I winged the whole thing. But you're welcome, anyway."

"Wait, so you really were captured?"

"Yeah, and I have Kamemon to thank for that. Hey, speaking of which," Daisuke said as he turned his attention away from Takato. "Kamemon, why did you ditch me and V-mon when we got off the ferry? We could have used your help back there!"

"Because you were drawing attention to yourself. " the Digimon replied swiftly. "And if I had stuck with you I, too, would have been caught and not allowed us to make our escape."

Daisuke realized that Kamemon was right. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

The turtle digimon turned to Gotsumon. "Have you heard about the Royal Knights?"

Gotsumon, who was just minding his own business while the humans talked, answered. "What? No, I haven't heard a thing."

"Royal Knights? What's that?" Takato asked.

"I'm guessing they are knights who serve royalty?" Daisuke remarked. "You know, as their name implies."

"You really are from another world." Gotsumon replied while looking at Takato. "But yeah, as he said, they are a group of knights who once served the God of the Digital World."

"God?" Takato said emphasizing the singular.

"You mean like Qinglongmon?" Daisuke added.

"Qinglongmon?" Gotsumon looked confused. "No, I'm talking about Yggdrasil."

"Yggdrasil?" said both humans with a confused look on their faces.

"Yeah. A few years ago he ordered an attack on the real world carried out by the Royal Knights."

"Ah, so the chosen of this world failed to do their job and so now it's up to us to save it, right?" asked a confident Daisuke.

"A Chosen?" asked both Takato and Gotsumon.

"Yeah, you know, I'm a Chosen Child. I was chosen to use my digimon partner to save the Digital World." Both were still confused. "Okay, just forget about it."

"But he did bring up a good point, though." The three of them turned to look at Kamemon. "If they are from a different world then why go through all the trouble? Why not just have DATS take care of the problem?"

"Oh, great, _now_ he decides to be talkative," said Daisuke.

"Maybe there is something happening in the real world that is preventing humans from entering?" responded Takato, trying to be productive.

"The gates haven't been opened in five years and we haven't had contact with the real world since then." Takato was looking at Gotsumon when he remembered what he had told him earlier.

"Wait? What about Masaru?"

Gotsumon looked at Takato. "Masaru might be able to help you in mastering your digisoul, but he also hasn't had any contact with the real world, either."

"So there are other cho... other humans with Digimon still in this world, then?" Asked Daisuke, deciding that he would be useful to the conversation for once. "I guess we should look for him, seeing as we don't know what to do."

"Speaking of Masaru, maybe we should try to get our digisoul to work properly just in case another Digimon attacks us," suggested Takato as he took out his digivice. "That escape probably would have gone a lot smother if we could have fought them off."

"Yeah, that's probably the only thing we can do right now," said Daisuke, realizing that practicing was the only option. "Oh, yeah, and I guess we really haven't had a _proper_ introduction with all this confusion. Hey, where's V-mon?"

"Yeah, Guilmon was complaining about being hungry not too long ago."

Both humans' eyes eventually turned to their digimon, who had been indulging themselves in fruit while enjoying each other's company.

"Takato!" Guilmon turned to his partner.

"When did you decide to walk away from us?"

"You four were talking about something boring so we decided to eat."

"So this is your partner, eh?" Daisuke asked as he examined the red digimon. "Strange, I don't think I've ever seen a digimon like this. Then again, I don't think I've ever seen some of the digimon we've encountered so far since arriving."

Takato knew he would have to do some explaining. "Well, you see, I sort of created him from drawing when I was a kid." Takato was thinking how crazy it would sound that he actually got to create his own personal digimon.

"You mean you actually created him?" he asked. "Just by drawing him?"

"Uh-huh."

Daisuke remained silent for a while. "That's pretty cool. I just got stuck with _this_ old guy."

"Daisuke!" V-mon scolded his partner, managing to put down the food.

"Well, you are an ancient lizard type, with the emphasis on ancient."

Guilmon approached Takato. "Takato, is this guy a tamer, too?"

"Huh?"

"The goggles means that he is a tamer, right? That's why you put them on?"

"Goggles?" Takato had just noticed that Daisuke had been wearing them on his head. Looking at the Daisuke's clothing Takato guessed that they shared very little fashion sense; while he wore decent street clothes the person in front of him was dressed as if he were going to the gym. He decided to talk to him about that. "Excuse me?"

"Yeah?" he responded.

"About your goggles?"  
"Goggles?" Daisuke stopped what he was doing and noticed that Takato had also been wearing goggles.

While he was curious as to why someone else would choose to wear goggles (though finding it _too_ coincidental that someone else with a Digimon from another world would) he was attempting to at least break the tension between the two that he had been sensing- or at least show some cross-dimensional diplomacy.

"Hey, you're wearing goggles, too! Just noticed that." Daisuke realized that he was not being very attentive today.

"Same here," Takato responded. "I'm curious as to why you'd choose to wear them."

"Why? Because they were given to me by a friend, that's why. After I met V-mon he told that the leader should always wear them, even though I was only the leader for about half the time."

"The leader should wear goggles?" Takato placed his hand on his.

"Yeah," Daisuke continued. "He lead the generation before me and thought that it would only be fitting for me to wear them. Hey, wait; does that mean that you were the leader in you world?"

"The leader?" Takato pondered that question. Upon realizing during the talk about leaders and goggles he just now figured out that between Ruki, Jen, and himself none of them could truly be called the leader, even if it was him that thought about the idea of going to the Digital World. "Well, no. Not really."

"Wait!" Daisuke said in a surprised tone. "Are you telling me that you were just a follower? That is so... so unbefitting."

"No, no, no" Takato responded sharply. "It's nothing like that. We all mostly did our own thing."

"Well, then why wear the goggles?" Daisuke asked.

"Because I saw it on a video game."

"A video game?" Daisuke had a confused look on his face.

"Yeah, um, a video..." When he remembered that he had mentioned the term chosen child Takato was certain that it was the term humans with digimon partners went by. Now the brunet-haired boy was curious just how different both of their worlds were. "Um, tell me, Daisuke, what exactly are digimon in your world?"

"What are digimon?" Daisuke put him left hand on his chin and began thinking about that. He had no idea where to begin. "Hey, V-mon."

"Yeah," the blue digimon looked at his partner.

"What exactly are digimon?" Daisuke asked, not knowing whether to expect an answer or not.

"Digimon are digital monsters! You should know this by know, Daisuke."

"There, straight from the horses mouth," Daisuke said, actually being proud that he managed to answer a question. "Digimon are digital monsters!"

"No, that's not what I meant!" Takato did not know how to explain why the answer was incorrect.

"But Takato," Guilmon interrupted, "digimon _are_ digital monsters!"

"But that's not what I was asking?" Even his own partner was turning on him.

Daisuke decided that another voice was needed here. "Hey, you, Gotsumon!"

"Yeah?"

"Digimon are digital monsters, right?"

"Yeah!"

"See, five on one!" Daisuke seemed even more proud of himself.

"Look!" Takato was not liking his _overly_ energetic personality. "The origins of your digimon- the origins of the digital world- I'm asking how they came to be."

"How they came to be?"

"Yeah. The real world did create them, right"

"Create them?" Daisuke was now attempting to find the right answer, even though he wasn't too sure of it himself. "I've never been on the loop about that, and if Koushiro ever said anything about it I'm pretty sure it went in one ear and out the other."

"So your group has no idea what exactly the digital world is?"

"Well, I do remember something Miyako told me. You see, she said something about the spirit world combining with the digital world that us humans were creating. She thinks that the digimon were the results of the spirits finding the network as a dwelling."

Takato was dumbstruck.

"Yeah, I don't know where she gets her crazy ideas from sometimes." Daisuke looked all to eager to agree. "So, does this mean that people in your world all get to create their own digimon partners? Man, why didn't I luck out and ended up in your world?"

"Daisuke!" V-mon felt that all he had been doing today was scolding his partner.

"You know I'm just joking, V-mon. You're the best partner ever."

"It's not like that, though," Takato said. "I was the only one who got to create my own digimon."

"Wait, so out of all the chosen... so out of every one with a digimon you were the only one allowed to create your own?"

"Um, yeah?"

"What makes you so special?" Daisuke was rather curious.

"That's not important!" The conversation had been getting derailed long enough. Takato decided to be a bit more straightforward. "Look, in my world digimon were the result of an artificial intelligence design program that eventually learned how to self-evolve, leading to digimon becoming real living things."

Daisuke had been confused with everything he had said. "That's, um, strange. So, where do these video games come from?"

"Well, eventually a company decided to used the same program that had created the original digimon to turn it into a franchise. Manga, video games, and a card game were what became a multi-billion dollar franchise."

"A... a... a franchise?" Daisuke's world had been turned upside down. There was just something about hearing that digimon was a children's franchise, something about hearing that in some other world small children were playing through an adventure similar to what he had to go through, something about the mysticism of the digimon and the Digital World being made into something people did not take seriously- though knowing that it was a franchise, he _was_ hoping that people were not taking it seriously- that was awfully flattering. "Aw, man, that's so cool!"

"So cool?" Takato said, surprised at Daisuke's reaction after he had just dropped a bombshell. Not the reaction that he was expecting.

"I so wish I could go to your world so that I could rub it in people's faces that I, who has never even heard of the franchise, can rub it in their faces! Wait, only a handful of people have digimon, right?"

"Just mostly me and my friends." Takato was still not over his unduly energetic response.

"That's awesome! So does this mean you get to like battle your friends in digimon fights?"

"Look, that's not important right now." Takato was at least glad that there was less tension between the two of them, though. "If we came to this world to save it then we as might as well just do what we came here for."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Daisuke was now realizing that he must have looked a bit foolish talking about it like that. "I guess I did get carried away there again, huh?"

Both humans pulled out their digivices knowing that without the ability to digivolve they would be useless in fighting anything stronger than a child level digimon.

Takato decided that the two native digimon might be their best chance at figuring out their current problem, even if they did not know exactly how the digisoul worked. "Gotsumon?"

"What is it, Takato?"

"Is there anything that causes the digisoul to stop working? Or is there maybe something that we have to do that we are not doing anymore?"

"Like I said, I'm not to certain. However, Kamemon might know a bit more seeing as his partner was able to make him digivolve using his digisoul."

Kamemon approached the human. "I'm sorry, but I won't be of any much use. Hiroshi was the one who activated the digisoul. I was just a receiver. If I did do anything it was solely on instinct."

Daisuke knew that they would have to at least try before they knew if they were doing anything wrong. "Maybe if we attempt it a few times we might be able to figure out just what exactly we need to work on to get it working. After all, practice makes perfect!"

"I suppose."

"You suppose? Come one, we'll never achieve it unless we're enthusiastic about this."

Takato did realize that he had been acting a bit glum lately, and maybe a pertinacious attitude towards the situation might just make a difference. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Ready to give it a try, Guilmon?"

The dinosaur digimon put down his food and laughed, signaling that he was agreeing.

"You ready, too, V-mon?" Daisuke asked.

"Right!" the blue lizard said enthusiastically.

"Okay then!" he responded.

Both humans concentrated hard on their digivices. "Digisoul charge!" they both screamed as they put their hand on it. "Overdrive!" Both were surprised that it did not work once again.

"Oh, come on!" Daisuke complained.

"Hey, we can't give up after one failed attempt, right?" Takato gave a reassuring smile.

Daisuke was surprised. "Huh, were did this new optimistic persona come from?"

"Hey, one of us has to be productive, right?"

"Is that so?" Daisuke saw what he was trying to do. "How about this: a small wager. Whoever activates their digisoul first wins."

"Wins what?" Takato was willing to agree.

"Not sure yet. I left my wallet back home but I'm certain we can figure out something."

Takato had an idea. "Our goggles!"

"Our goggles?"

"Yeah. We both have a pair and it's an even trade. What do you say?"

Daisuke thought long and hard about this. "Well, with the stakes never reaching an all-time high I suppose that might just motive me. After all, Taichi would kill me if he knew I lost them in a manner like this. You're on!" But before Takato could even shake his hand, signaling the deal, Daisuke went ahead of him. "Digisoul charge! Overdrive!"

Nothing happened.

"Hey, you tried to get a head start! That's not fair."

"I'm not going to lose these to you, you got that?"

"You're saying that now."

Both humans placed their hands on their digivice. "Digisoul charge! Overdrive!"

* * *

Long story short: Life got _really_ busy during my second year. To top it off I was training for several marathons along the way (managed to do four so far) and working job-to-job didn't allow me to have the freedom that a stable one kind of allows. Eventually, writing fanfiction took a backseat to other things. As of right now my schedule doesn't allow me to say when I'll have the time to work on stories, but I've found a system that allows me to sit long enough that writing is a possibility. Also, upon reading through the earlier chapters I've come to realized just how horribly written they were; from _show don't tell_ to basic grammar and spelling mistakes, to story flow and pacing problems that _need_ to be addressed. I plan to at least fully edit the first seven or so chapters to make this story up to standard (and not the standard, mind you- as that would mean a good portion of this story would be above par- but mine). And, lastly, since I haven't done too much fictional writing as of late (or, heck, much writing that requires proper paragraph structure, really) constructive criticism is strongly asked for, as I am feeling rather rusty. Point out small grammar errors or writing style- I don't care which, really. All-in-all, please review. And again, sorry.


	11. DATS

"The gate is still too unstable," said a male voice. "Opening it now might cause another incident just like the first time we tried. Then we add the gate rip from five years ago and—"

"That's not necessarily true," said a female voice. "While the gate system is at its most basic level all we need is a security clearance."

"Touma, is this true?" asked another female voice.

"Yes, Yoshino," said Touma—he know recognized the first voice as his. "But I'm afraid unlocking the security on the gates does require _actual_ security clearance. Only top ranking officials have that."

"Is there any way to get around them?"

"There might be. However, the people who designed the locks actually knew what they were doing. If anything, hacking it might make the gate system more unstable than attempting it right now."

"Who has the security clearance?"

"You don't want to know." It was a deeper male voice this time.

That was the conversation that he was hearing outside. When Ikuto had woken up he realized that sleeping might have been a better option—he only felt the pain in his body while he was awake—but upon remembering why he was covered in bandages he decided to ignore the pain and attempted to get up. However, he soon found that sitting up was quite a challenge and knew that it would be a while before he could fight again. He attempted to stand up again but realized that he was still hurting from what had happened to him earlier.

_Damn it, I don't remember him even trying too hard!_

Duftmon had managed to defeat him quite easily. He did not even remember being this hurt after their scuffle, but he knew that it was due to not having adrenaline rushing through his system that instant. Mustering energy from within he managed to sit up to realize that he was in a small room—he assumed that the door close to him lead to where the others were having their conversation.

"Hey, you're finally up." Said a surprised, but relieved, voice

"Chika?" Ikuto saw that it was his friend from school. Chika was wearing her regular clothes—a blue medium-length skirt and a pink short-sleeved shirt—as opposed to her uniform; Ikuto knew that he must have been past out for a while for her to have time to change. "Hey, where are we?"

"We're at the old DATS headquarters. Touma is here as is Yoshino and the rest of the team. Your parents are here, as well."

"How... How long have I been out for?" He was rather curious at how bad his beating had been at the hands of Duftmon.

"Almost a day. Yoshino found you after they left."

"They?"

"The Royal Knight; they did a coordinated attack at three different old DATS bases."

"The Royal Knights? This doesn't make any sense. Even if Yggdrasil was back they learned that he wasn't all omnipotent—they were willing to turn against him at the end when they saw that he was wrong."

Chika walked closer to his bedside. "That's what they've been talking about for a while." She said as she pointed to the door. "They've decided that the best way will be to find their digimon and see just what's going on in the digital world."

"Right!" Ikuto removed the sheets covering him. "Then I'm going, too."

Getting up had not been the best choice for the injured teenager. He soon found that setting his foot on the ground and attempting to stand up was much harder than previously thought. While his legs had no problem sustaining his weights his injured abdominals were preventing him from maintaining his balance. Chika expected as much and helped catch him before he fell.

"I don't think that is such a good idea." She was now supporting his weight. "At the very least you won't be climbing trees for a while."

With Chika supporting his weight Ikuto managed to make it to the door. Barging in the current conversation—which he had stopped listening to a while ago—he made his demands heard.

"I'm going as well."

Inside the room were all the former DATS agents—Satsuma, Touma, Yoshino, Miki and Megumi—and blonde girl around his age that he recognized as Touma's sister, Relena. However, what caught his attention more than anything else were the two figures of his biological parents, Kenji and Misuzu Noguchi. His father was a portly man with brown hair and a mustache while his mother was a beautiful, tall woman with blue hair.

"Ikuto!" Misuzu embraced her son with a hug, being relieved that he was okay. However, her look of relieved was soon replaced with that of overly protective. "How could you go out and do something as reckless as attempting to fight-off a digimon by your lonesome self? You're very lucky that he choose not to kill you."

"Mom..." Ikuto realized that she had been right; he did act reckless attempting to fight off a digimon—especially when that digimon was a member of the Royal Knights. However, he seemed to recall that before fighting Duftmon he forgot all about both his parents and his baby sister, Yuka. It wasn't for lack of caring; it had more to do that he was not used to fighting when he had something meaningful in his life like family. He knew that he should have been more considerate. He held back his tears. "...I'm sorry."

Touma was glad that Ikuto was okay but, judging from his injuries, he knew that he would be in no condition to go to the Digital World right away—and yes, he recognized the hypocrisy in himself saying someone was in no condition to fight while he himself suffered from a broken leg. However, he was a doctor, so he gave himself permission to go out and explore the Digital World.

"Listen," Touma decided that they had to act fast if they wanted to know just what was happening in the Digital World. "Five of the Royal Knights managed to steal a computer that had the location of some of the strongest digimon in the Digital World. We have no idea why they were after it or just what Digimon they were seeking. Heck, we don't even know if they will attack again. At the moment, we are essentially at their mercy—the only way to change the status quo will be to reunite with our digimon and assuming Masaru isn't dead, try to get what information he might have—it might even be useful at last." Touma looked over at Chika just to make sure she knew that he was joking about the dead Masaru joke.

Satsuma stood up. "I agree with Touma. The Royal Knights managed to kill several people during their rampage. While there were little civilian causality they will have to answer for what they did yesterday. The only way that we will have chance to fight them off will be with other digimon.'

It had then occurred to Ikuto that Satsuma's partner, Kudamon, was a member of the Royal Knights and that it had been Sleipmon who had attacked him first. "Wait, what about Kudamon? Wasn't he part of the attack?"

At that point, Chika wanted to tell Ikuto that he needed some tact. However, everyone in the room had been struck silent with what Ikuto said. They were all expecting Satsuma to not answer the question; who could blame them, with the look in his face he certainly seemed unwilling to answer. However, much to their shock, they were surprised that he managed to blurt out an answer. "Like I said, the Royal Knight will have to answer for what they did. No exception."

They were not surprised by his answer; as their boss he was always tough and did keep the mission at hand, even during times like these when there was no "real" mission. However, to hear it coming so coldly—to hear him essentially condemn his partner to die—was a bit belligerent of the commander. But, really, what other choice did they have? They betrayed an alliance they had, small it may be, and killed innocent people during their rampage. And for Satsuma, his friendship and trust was betrayed.

Yoshino knew she had to remember one important aspect. "This is all fine but we still lack a way to enter the digital world. So, unless we want to create another incident that we will get blamed for, we need to fix the Gate System."

Ikuto's father, Kenji, stepped in. "We've tried everything. As long as the security lock are in place, even if we managed to open it, we would have no control over where any of you would land—inside a volcano, under the sea, heck, even inside a Digimon or a mountain—and that's just a best-case scenario. We might have to steal—"

"You cannot be serious!" Yoshino interrupted, much to the surprised of everyone. "We'd be committing a national offense... against several nations _at once_!"

"—it from someone who has it."

"I'm sure we could ask for permission to use it. After all, even if they rejected Mr. Daimon's official plea they might reconsider if we make a better case. Who do we know who has it?"

"Him." Satsuma pointed towards the door, marking a man who had just entered.

Being accompanied by three large men was a short black-haired man. Standing besides the three large brutes he looked especially petit, and not in the huggable way, either. All the DATS agents looked at him with contempt. However, the Noguchi's—Ikuto, Misuzu and Kenji—seemed to especially have a hateful look in their eyes that seemed to be cause just by him being in the same room. Not that of contempt, like the others, but that of scorn and hatred. Heck, if his injuries were not holding him back, Ikuto looked like he would have killed him. Fortunately for the short man, he was hurt.

"By being here you are all breaking the law," the short man said. "This base was shut down a long time ago, thanks to you all."

Kenji Noguchi was the first to speak up. "What the hell do you think you're doing here? You think you can barge in here like that after what you did to my family?"

He ignored the anger in the man's eyes, feeling confident they would do nothing while was accompanied. "Barging in? Ha! You're the ones who are trespassing. This base was not reauthorized for use by anybody; I can have you all arrested for a very long time."

Satsuma stepped forward. "Hashiba—"

"That's Director Hashiba to you, Satsuma." He interrupted him mid-speech "After all, I'm a higher rank."

Satsuma continued. "You have to let your grudge against us go. We do not know if they will attack again, much less when. The only way to successfully stand a chance against them will be with other Digimon."

"Ha! I don't know how you failed to notice who it was that attacked us (probably to busy being a coward and hiding out)." Hashiba pulled out a picture from inside his jacket, showing the Sleipmon that attacked. "We easily identified this creature as your partner. Is this correct?"

Satsuma remained quite.

Yoshino jumped in. "Listen, we don't even know what we are dealing with here. This is why—"

"Shut up! You're just a nobody. Now, Satsuma, answer my question: was this or was this not your digimon partner?"

"...Yes." He hesitated. "Yes he is... was."

"Then you are under arrest for conspiracy." He signaled his company. "Gentlemen, arrest him. And, while you're at it, get the rest of these trespassers, as well. I'm sure that there are several chargers they could be held against."

The three large men approached Satsuma.

Satsuma, however, still kept his composure. "Five years and you still haven't learned anything, have you, Hashiba?"

"It's _Director_ Hash—"

"You don't deserve to say anything in front of these people. They've all risked their lives for something else while you still hold a petty grudge against us for proving you wrong."

"How dare you!"

"Yes, how dare I. Five years ago I chose not to speak out against you. You are a cowardly human being. People like you just get in the way—people like you never seem to realize just how wrong they are until it comes to bite them in the ass."

As the first man attempted to grab Satsuma—who was easily several inches taller than him—the Commander of DATS was not going to take it lying down. He elbowed him in the gut and, as his defense lowered, delivered a heavy punch to his head, knocking him down. The other two were approaching. Satsuma dodged the first one by tripping him and as the third approached Satsuma put his foot behind his, put his hand on his chest, and swept and pushed, knocking him down. But he was not done yet. Lifting his right arm he threw his fist at the downed opponent, hitting him in the forehead and causing his head to collide with the floor. The third was approaching and when he was is striking distance he threw a kick but Satsuma managed to block it with his arm. Pushing the leg to the side he threw the brute off his balance and delivered a kick of his own to his head. With all three knocked out everyone in the room had been amazed at just how easily he had taken them out, each with essentially one shot. Heck, Touma thought he could not have done a better job himself.

Hashiba was scared at this point. He thought they would go down quietly when he threatened them. This, however, he did not see coming; he seriously thought Satsuma would surrender when the proper accusations were hailed against him.

"Listen," he said, "surrender now or things _will_ get worst from now on. I will make it my responsibility to lock you away for life."

"And you don't seem to realize is that I don't care." Satsuma approached the stubby man, managing to instill even more fear, if that were possible. "There is something else we all need to do that is far greater than us. I don't care what it takes, but we will get to the bottom of this. You can either stand in our way or step aside—it will not matter to me which you choose."

Hashiba wobbled back. "If you do anything rash I will make sure everyone here suffers for it. They will all be locked up forever!"

Satsuma stopped approaching him. He was willing to sacrifice himself for the current cause, but he wasn't willing to sacrifice everyone else, at least not without their consent. However, hearing someone else step into the room he would not have to make that decision, at least not today. An old gray-haired man wearing glasses steeped in the room and all attention shifted focus on him.

"Yushima," Satsuma greeted the newcomer.

"Please, Satsuma," he responded, "we've been friends for a long time. Call me Hiroshi."

Hashiba disrupted their introductions. "Fine, I'll arrest you, too! I'll arrest you all."

Hiroshi remained calm and faced Satsuma. "I told you we should have campaigned to have him removed." He now faced the short man. "Satsuma may face charges against harming government employees but the thing is that I have more then enough evidence to take you down. And I'm not just talking about from five years ago, no. You are a corrupt man, Hashiba, and if any harm comes to any one of them then you will suffer for it. I know you have the security clearance to open the gate, so give it up nicely and you might continue maintaining your position."

Hashiba was now genuinely scarred; he knew that he had no more bargaining chips. "Do... do not... do not attempt to blackmail the Director. I... I will have you all jailed."

Having had enough of him—not to mention, holding a personal grudge against him—Noguchi Kenji rushed Hashiba and nailed him with three punches directed at his head. Knocking him down he began shaking his fist to relieve the pain—he was not much of a fighter after all.

"That's what you get for trying to break my family apart, you!"

To everyone in that room this had been a surprising day. Not only had their commander broken the law but, also, the usually calm Noguchi Kenji had attacked Hashiba for what had happened five years ago. Then again, none of them got to pay him back for what he did with their memories. Of course, none of them felt that he had gotten what he deserved just yet, but they knew that his punishment would have to wait.

Approaching the downed Director, Hiroshi began searching through his jacket, looking what something. Finding it, he took out a blue keycard.

"He almost makes this to easy. Are the portals ready to go?"

Misuzu spoke up. "Once we enter the card in the slot then we will have control of the gate system. It will be ready in a bit."

With that said, both the Noguchi's made their way towards the computer, being accompanied by Miki and Megumi.

As they were working on getting the system operational, Satsuma knew that they had to plan things out. "We will have to plant ourselves as far away from the Royal Knight's base as possible. This will all have been for not if they manage to find us before we are properly armed. Touma, will your injuries prevent you from going to the Digital World?"

Touma was now in an actual cast and supporting himself with an actual crutch. "I'm not 100 percent, but I should do just fine. However, like I said, we also need to seek out Masaru to see if he knows just what is going on, unlikely as that might be."

Chika stepped in. "Hey, that's not very nice!"

Yoshino looked at Satsuma. "Commander, will you be alright?"

Satsuma looked a bit worried. "I've said what I had to say; if Kudamon did betray us then he will have to answer to us."

Yoshino heard what she needed to hear. _If Kudamon did? I knew he had some reservations about his innocence._

"I'm going, too!" Ikuto still had a hard time standing up, still being held up by Chika. "If Touma can go so can I."

His mother came forward. "Ikuto, you can't—"

"This is something that I have to do. Duftmon... I need to find Falcomon."

"Ikuto." Satsuma began. "I know what you are thinking—I can consider myself in the same boat as you—but unlike Touma you can barely stand up."

Hearing that Ikuto let himself go of Chika and attempted to stand on his own. Though he was managing he stand up straight now without any help he was still struggling.

"That may be," Satsuma continued, "but even so I will feel guilty sending someone of your age to fight, especially in that condition."

"But you let Masaru do the same when he was one year younger than me. This is something that I have to do!"

"If you want to reunite with Falcomon then you will get a chance once we are done. Until then, I'm sorry."

Ikuto knew that there would be no arguing with him but knew that he would get to the Digital World later. Knowing what he had to do he decide to drop the issue.

Satsuma, turning to Hiroshi, began talking. "Will you be coming along with us?"

"I'm afraid not," he responded. "They might need my help if any of them wake up. Plus, I can only achieve perfect—I do not need you guys worrying about me while fighting the Royal Knights."

"Just make sure that they don't do anything reckless." Satsuma was referring to both Ikuto and Chika. "They are up to something."

"Very well."

"The gate is ready," called out Megumi.

"Where are your coordinates, sir," said Miki.

Commander Satsuma readied what little troops he had. "Touma, Yoshino, are you ready?"

"Yes, sir," both responded.

"Do you have your digivices ready?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Miki, Megumi, try to get us as close as possible to Mercurimon old base. We have no idea where Gaomon and Lalamon are—for all we know they are on the other side of the world—but rest assured that they should seek us out just as we will seek them out. As impossible as this mission seems we will succeed."

All of the DATS agents we wearing their uniforms from before DATS was disbanded. Along with them they also had hiking backpacks with, presumably, gear that would be useful for traveling the digital world. The three of them steeped inside the Gate System as the portal opened up. Absorbing them, their bodies soon disappeared as they made their way to the Digital World. However, all would not seem well, as both Megumi and Miki soon found out.

"Oh, no!" Said Miki.

"What's wrong?" Hiroshi said.

"The security system needed at least one hour before it was fully shut down." Answered Megumi. "We do not know where we sent them."

"Well find them and make communication."

"Yes, sir."

Ikuto now knew that they would require his help more than ever, even if they did not know it yet.

* * *

Yoshino knew that something went wrong when she appeared several feet above the ground. Before she hit the ground she managed to roll, taking some of the impact away. As she looked around frantically for her allies she knew she had more to worry about than a simple fall. In front of her two perfect level digimon were waging a fight. The first one was a large parrot, properly named Parrotmon. The other was a gigantic white beetle-like creature—it was named Okuwamon. Luckily for Yoshino, the two were more concerned about each other than her, but that did not mean that she was safe. As Parrotmon knocked Okuwamon on his back Yoshino saw that he was about to fall on her. Since they were both easily _much_ larger than her they would crush her like an insect. Before the large bug feel on top of her Yoshino managed to roll out of the way. But their fight was far from over.

_I need to get out of here and find the others_. She began walking as Okuwamon stood back up to fight. As the Parrotmon charged towards Okuwamon the large bug managed to hit it sending it, once again, towards Yoshino. Rolling out of the way once again she knew the safest thing to do—besides running, that is—was to know her surroundings. She saw that she was in a small canyon, meaning that the safest place would be hard to find as both of the Digimon had the ability to fly. However, she soon found relief in her situation when she spotted both Satsuma and Touma inside a cave just ahead, slightly above the ground.

"Yoshino, watch out behind you!" Touma warned.

Yoshino saw that behind her was a blue energy blast—she assumed it came from Parrotmon—and steeped inside a large-enough crack that allowed her to stay alive. Looking forward she saw that the attack from the giant parrot destroyed the nearby rocks; saying they had turned to ruble would have made the rocks seem in better shape than they actually were.

_Okay, now I'm really hoping that Okuwamon wins._ She thought as she managed to reach where both her allies were. As she jumped up to try to reach them Satsuma managed to catch her hand and easily pulled her up to safety.

"The Gate System must have had something else preventing it from being fully operational," Touma theorized. "Regardless, we must attempt to make contact with the others to know where we are."

Removing and opening his backpack, Touma pulled out a small device.

"Miki, Megumi, can you hear me?"

All that came from the other end was static.

"Maybe mine got damaged when we came in? See if any of you can find a decent signal."

They both did, soon realizing that they had no more luck than Touma. However, Satsuma carefully inspected his communication device and realized that it seemed operational.

"Something is blocking the signals."

"What?" Said Touma. "Could the Royal Knights have guess we would come so soon?"

"It's a possibility. Somehow, we managed to walk into a difficult situation, near impossible, even, and it was made worst. We have no idea where we are and worst of all we don't know where our... your partners are."

"This really is the worst."

As the three of them were left stranded in a world with powerful being both Okuwamon and Parrotmon continued their battle. Strong as those two were they were nobodies in comparison.

* * *

Megumi turned to Hiroshi. "Sir, we cannot seem to connect with them. It's almost as if something is blocking the signal."

"The Royal Knights, could they have been planning our arrival?"

Miki managed to temporarily get a signal. She recognized the voice as Yoshino's.

"Yoshino, can you hear me?"

"Miki, Megumi, we landed in an unknown location. We can't seem to reach—"

"Yoshino, we can't seem to locate you. Are you with the other's?"

"Mi—gumi— you hear us?"

"There is something blocking the signal. We can't even find them, much less hear them."

Hiroshi knew the predicament that they were in: they were stranded alone with no possibility of support, no one knew where they were and they had no way to talk.

"This situation just got a whole lot worst."

* * *

"It's no use," Yoshino said, "we are not getting through. There really might be something blocking our signal."

While both Yoshino and Satsuma were focusing on trying to establish connection Touma saw a more imminent danger. Still outside the small cave that they managed to seek shelter in Okuwamon and Parrotmon were still outside, trying to kill each other while destroying their surrounding. They were getting closer, and Touma knew that his injuries would be slowing his team down.

"Captain Satsuma," he said, "they are getting closer. You two need to get out of here."

Hearing Touma, both Yoshino and Satsuma went to inspect the situation. Touma was right; both digimon were approaching their location as they carried out their fight.

Touma continued. "My leg will prevent me from going as fast as you two. If you attempt to take me with you then our safety will be compromised."

Yoshino was shocked at his suggestion that they leave him there to die. "No, we can't do that! The only way that we will accomplish this mission is with all of us. I don't think I can take out all the Royal Knights by myself."

"Touma," Satsuma interfered. "We will not leave you behind just so that you can feel better about yourself by not holding us back. Pointlessly sacrificing yourself to give us a few seconds will do us no good."

Without even waiting to hear him respond Satsuma fireman carried Touma and signaled Yoshino to run towards the entrance. Jumping out of the cave they safely landed on the ground and began running. They were right in escaping because a few seconds after they left Okuwamon was knocked towards the cave, crushing the entrance and anything that might have remained inside of it.

Yoshino could not help but rub it in his face. "And to think that you wanted _that_ to be you."

As Parrotmon opened his mouth to attempt to deliver another blast Okuwamon moved fast and managed to impale the large bird directly through the chest. As it screamed out in pain it soon reverted back to a digitama, signaling that Okuwamon had won.

"It served him right." Yoshino was glad that she picked the winner.

However, they were not out of danger quite yet. Okuwamon had managed to see them running and flew above them, landing in front of them and blocking their path. Though he had just defeated his opponent he looked hungry—the fight had clearly worn him out and now he was waiting to enjoy a meal.

"Perhaps it was best to have left me there."

"Their is no point in arguing over this, Touma, he would have caught up to us regardless."

Okuwamon was about to strike when suddenly it was knocked to the side by a kick that seemed to come from nowhere. As the three DATS agents looked to see their savior they saw what appeared to be a muscular golden caped monkey.

"I am thee KingEtomon!" he said. "I, as a member of thy Royal Knight tis my duty to defend those who are in need. Now, be gone you foul beast before I blast you away!"

The Okuwamon did not listen to the monkey's warning. As it rushed him KingEtomon readied a counter. Once it got close the golden monkey jumped towards the large bug.

"King mon-kick!" When the kick landed not only did it manage to send the large bug towards the nearby walls but also upon hitting it reverted back to a digitama. "And another victory I has achieved. This knight shall not rest until all creatures are safe."

While grateful for being saved the DATS agents had no idea what had happened.

"Um, captain?" Yoshino looked at Satsuma. "This guy isn't a Royal Knight, is he?"

"No. This is KingEtomon, a puppet digimon. We should be grateful and continue the mission." Satsuma put down Touma and approached the one who saved them. "Thank you for your help. We will be on our way now."

"Thy is welcome. However, as thy, a chivalrous knight, it would be unheard of me to let you explore this world with thine lady in your present."

"Thanks, but that will not be necessary."

"Does thy not realize that thy are receiving a gift in the services of one of the Royal Knights?"

Yoshino knew that she had to interfere. "You are not a Royal Knight, and your ascent is slipping."

"How-eth dare to insult my—I mean, thy voice and status. I am a knight of the highest order!"

Yoshino could not stand this guy. "No, you're not, and your ascent slipped several times while talking."

"Thy wench has insulted thy honor! I will have to hurt you three for such blasphemy!"

"Your ascent keeps slipping."

"Yoshino," Touma screamed, "just let it go."

Satsuma tried to calm him down. "Look, we are hear on an important mission. We cannot involve anyone who we feel would be a liability to our cause."

"Is thy calling this knight a liability? I shan't have you know that thy is an honest knight."

_They should have left me inside that crushed caved. It would be a lot safer._ Touma thought.

However, as Touma was questioning their safety—as well as the sanity of his allies—he felt something he had not felt in a while. It was his partner, Gaomon. He felt him approaching—his digisoul told him that. Now he was just hoping that his partner would get there before anything bad happened to them. And, just before KingEtomon manage to hurt any of the DATS agents a small blue hurricane managed to hit him, sending the caped-monkey to the floor."

"Who dares to punch one of the Royal Knights?" KingEtomon stood back up.

The one had assaulted KingEtomon revealed himself. A blue dog-like creature with red boxing gloves stood next to Touma and got ready for the attack.

"Gaomon, let's do this!" Touma ordered, not wasting any time.

"Yes, master," Gaomon said."

Touma took out his digivice and summoned his digisoul. "Digisoul charge! Overdrive!"

Touma's digisoul fully surrounded his body as it made its way into the digivice. Gaomon's body began to change shape and size. As his body seemed to delete itself it was being replaced by something else.

"Gaomon evolve to..." In place of where the small dog once was now stood a gigantic blue mecha-like being. Each of its fists were adorn with three razor-sharp claws. His chest was designed with a wolf-like design and, though clearly a robotic creature, his head still retained the dog shape from his previous evolutions. "...MirageGaogamon."

"MirageGaogamon," Touma ordered, "go easy on him. He did help us, after all.

As KingEtomon approached the beast knight MirageGaogamon easily managed to manhandle the golden monkey. Tossing him aside it was obvious that the fight had won. Knowing that he was done with the fight MirageGaogamon de-evolved back to Gaomon, and decided to greet his partner.

"Gaomon, it seems that you've improved since the last time we saw each other." He approached his partner. "Needless to say, I do miss your tea."

"Yes, master. May I infer that you are hear because of the Royal Knights?"

"Um, Gaomon, how did you know that we were here because the Royal Knights invaded the real world?"

"Rumors travel fast in the Digital World, master. However, I did not know that they invaded the real world."

Being glad that they were out of danger, Yoshino knew that she had to ask. "Um, Gaomon, due you know where Masaru is?"

"I'm sorry, but I have not seem him in some months."

"Gaomon, what exactly do you know about these rumors that involve the Royal Knights?"

"Let's just say that these knights are not exactly who they appear to be."

* * *

**AN:** So, yeah, in case anyone is wondering, I did redo chapter 1. It's much better now, in my opinion. For the record, I'll probably be rewriting chapters 2 through 8 since I don't care for those too much. But, hey, that's what happens when you write in a very amateurish way. Also note that I will be using some of the "better translated" names for certain Digimon. For example, Raramon will now be spelled as Lalamon and whatever else I feel looks rights, though I should barely be noticeable .

And now for some bad news: a job I'm taking requires me to leave a lot of my stuff behind, including my computer. I won't bore you with the details, just note that I will be really busy for the next few months earning some much needed dough—there is very little chance I will have time to work on any sort of writing. So there will be no rewriting of older chapters or starting chapter 12. Yep, this is the biggest outcry since Fred Gallagher drew porn of his own characters and denied it. However, I will make no promises to stop writing due to this and later backed out of said promise, because that's not cool. So yeah, if you're wondering why it's January and still no update you can blame my job.


End file.
